‘Great people, fantastic vibe, excellent speeches’ - the 2025 Forest annual lunch

Thanks to everyone who attended the Forest Freedom Up In Smoke lunch at Boisdale of Belgravia on Tuesday.

We had a full house (80 guests) including MPs, peers, parliamentary researchers, think tank staffers, journalists (among them the legendary Tom Utley and Harry Cole!), and friends of Forest.

The event began with drinks on the terrace before guests took their places for lunch in the main restaurant.

Unusually, I don’t think there was a single empty seat. Inevitably we had a few last minute withdrawals, albeit fewer than usual, but there were also several guests who turned up unexpectedly, having not replied to our invitation.

Somehow, with a bit of juggling, we managed to fit everyone in.

Special thanks to our host, Ranald Macdonald, MD of Boisdale Restaurants, and guest speaker Claire Fox, aka Baroness Fox of Buckley, who talked about the Tobacco and Vapes Bill which is currently progressing through the House of Lords.

Sir Philip Davies (above), the former MP for Shipley (2005-2024), was presented with our prestigious (!) Voices of Freedom award for consistently voting against anti-smoking legislation, despite being a non-smoker and having a general dislike of smoking.

Last and definitely least, former prime minister Rishi Sunak was given our Nanny-in-Chief award for having initiated the generational tobacco ban that will eventually prohibit the sale of tobacco to adults of ALL ages.

Sunak just beat Sir Keir Starmer to the award. Sadly, he wasn’t present to collect it in person but Chris Snowdon (below), founder and editor of the Nanny State Index, accepted it on his behalf.

After the speeches guests who didn’t have to go back to work were invited to reconvene on the terrace, and many did. In fact the party was still going strong six hours after it started, at which point I had to leave to attend another event.

Yesterday Ranald sent me a text: ‘I thought it was the best [lunch] yet. Great people, fantastic vibe, excellent speeches.’ He may be right although, in truth, he says the same thing every year.

To see the full gallery of fabulous photos, click here.

Photos: Gary Williams
Instagram: garywilliams.photography

Below: Baroness Meyer (left) with Baroness Fox (centre) and Baroness Hoey (right). Catherine Meyer is the wife of the late Sir Christopher Meyer, former British ambassador to the United States and Germany; Kate Hoey, another life peer, was a minister in the Blair government.