Lord David Anderson of Ipswich KBE KC

Biography

Lord David Anderson of Ipswich KBE KC served as the Interim Independent Prevent Commissioner from January 2025 until April 2026.

David is a barrister in independent practice at Brick Court Chambers and a crossbench peer. Between 2011 and 2017 he served as Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, and since then has reported to government and Parliament on a variety of national security topics including investigatory powers and intelligence handling.

David is a Visiting Professor at King’s College London and chairs the European Institute at UCL. He chairs the trustees of Inter Mediate, a charity facilitating peace negotiations in international conflicts, and sits on the Constitution Committee of the House of Lords. He is a member of the advisory council of Transparency International UK.

He was knighted in 2018 for services to national security and civil liberties.

Previous roles in government

  • Independent Prevent Commissioner