The ASA Council is the jury that decides whether advertisements have broken the advertising rules. Those ads that break the rules have to be withdrawn or changed.
The Council is actually two Councils: broadcast and non-broadcast, led by ASA Chair, Baroness Nicky Morgan. There are 12 members, excluding the Chair, and they all sit on both. Two-thirds of them are independent of industry and the remaining members have a recent or current knowledge of the advertiser, agency or media sectors. Members are appointed through an open recruitment process, with all positions advertised.
Collectively, the members offer a wide range of skills and experiences, representing the perspectives of a wide cross section of society, including young people, families, charities and consumer groups.While it would not be appropriate to publish details of deliberations, the parties to a complaint are made aware of the collective decision of Council, along with detailed reasoning. This information is also made publicly available in our detailed weekly rulings.
The ASA Council also operates as the Board of the ASA.
ASA Council members
-
Nicky Morgan
Chair
Nicky Morgan (The Rt Hon the Baroness Morgan of Cotes) is a former MP and Minister. She is now a member of the House of Lords and has a portfolio career with roles across the private and public sectors, including as a Non-Executive Director at Santander UK, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, Chair of the Careers & Enterprise Company and is a Trustee of the Science Museum Group.
Nicky served in the Cabinets of David Cameron and Boris Johnson as, respectively, Minister for Women & Equalities, Education Secretary and Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary. She also chaired the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee for 2 years. She was the Member of Parliament for Loughborough between 2010 and 2019.
Before being elected she worked as a solicitor in the City of London specialising in M&A. -
Dekan Apajee
Independent Member
Dekan Apajee is a board-level leader and governance professional with experience across broadcasting, higher education, and the cultural and creative sectors. He is currently Head of Department for Media at the University of East London, where his leadership has helped secure a top UK ranking for Media and Film Studies in the Guardian University Guide 2025.
He served on the Ofcom Content Board from 2020 to 2025, contributing to oversight of broadcasting regulation, content standards and public service media. He also served on the Advisory Committee for England, helping ensure regional perspectives and under-represented communities were reflected in national regulatory decisions.
Earlier in his career, Dekan was a broadcast journalist and content producer at the BBC, where he led news and entertainment initiatives and drove digital content innovation.
He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is also a professionally qualified coach and member of the International Coaching Federation, working across the corporate, education and creative sectors.
-
Matt Barwell
Advertising Industry Background member
Matt has more than 35 years of Marketing and Advertising experience, having held senior positions in three of the world’s leading FMCG businesses: Mars Inc; Diageo; and Britvic. He has led teams across many international markets. His most recent Executive role was serving as Chief Marketing Officer for Britvic, where he was also responsible for Corporate Affairs, Sustainability and R&D.
Matt has strong industry stakeholder relationships and regulatory experience, gained through the Presidents Committee of Food & Drink Federation, Advertising Association and ISBA. He is a former Chair of the AA’s Front Foot Group and of the Marketing Group of Great Britain, as well as being a Fellow of the Marketing Society.
He is currently an NED and Advisor for a number of scale-up businesses, is an Advisor to Accenture and a Trustee for a leading Children’s Mental Health Charity, Place2Be. He lives in Berkshire with his wife Harriet, two dogs and has three grown-up sons.
-
Professor Carwyn Jones
Independent Member for Wales
Professor Carwyn Jones is a former First Minister of Wales, a role he held from 2009 to 2018. He left the Senedd in 2021 after representing the Bridgend constituency for 22 years, including 18 consecutive years in government. He is now a Professor at Aberystwyth University, with a particular interest in constitutional law. He is also a Bencher at Gray's Inn.
Before entering politics, he practised at the Bar for 10 years and was a Professional Tutor on the Bar Vocational Course at Cardiff University.
Since leaving politics, he has worked in broadcasting, business consultancy and presentation skills training, and with a number of charities. His autobiography was published in 2020. In January 2025, he entered the House of Lords as Lord Jones of Penybont.
-
Murphy Cobbing
Independent Member
Murphy Cobbing is a Broadcast Journalist from Gateshead. She spent more than 20 years producing BBC News, consumer programmes and documentaries, for both radio and television, based largely in the North East of England. She has also worked in the independent media sector.
She is currently Vice President of the British Board of Film Classification, a school governor and has been a trustee of the Tyneside Cinema and the North East Circus Development Trust.
-
Pippa Glucklich
Agency Background Member
Pippa is an influential leader in the advertising, media and digital industries, with more than 30 years’ experience driving commercial growth across global networks and independent agencies. She recently moved to a portfolio career. Alongside advisory roles with the News Alliance and ‘Advertising: Who Cares?’, her non-executive roles include trustee and Vice Chair of Mind and Chair of the English Sport Development Trust, which oversees campaigns such as This Girl Can.
Previously, she was part of the leadership team that led the sale of independent agency BLM to Havas, and has held CEO roles at Starcom, Dentsu and, most recently, independent media agency Electric Glue.
Committed to workplace culture and supporting women’s progression, Pippa is a former President of Women in Advertising and Communications Leadership, a former long-serving trustee of industry charity NABS, and Chair of timeTo, the industry initiative to end sexual harassment.
-
Elizabeth Gordon
Independent Member
Elizabeth Gordon is a Non-Executive Director of NHS Lothian Health Board, a Trustee of NHS Lothian Charity and a Board Member of East Lothian Integration Joint Board (a statutory body with oversight of health and social care).
Her past experience includes being a Board Member of Edinburgh Integration Joint Board, a Director of a large independent provider of NHS dentistry in Edinburgh and prior to that, Elizabeth was a Solicitor in a leading Scottish law firm, working in the field of occupational pensions.
-
Alison Hastings
Independent Member
Alison is a former daily newspaper editor who has sat on the Boards of a range of regulators including the BBC Trust, the British Board of Film Classification, the Gambling Commission and the Press Complaints Commission.
She is currently a member of the Press Association Trust and a non-exec at Motability Operations PLC. Alison sits on the ASA Council as an independent member.
-
Claire Hilton
Advertising Industry Background Member
Claire is a brand, marketing and digital C-Suite leader turned portfolio professional. She brings 30 years' experience at the intersection of business strategy, brand, commercial marketing and effective leadership. Claire currently advises Virgin Group on marketing transformation and is also Chair of Virgin StartUp.
Her career spans three iconic British brands: Virgin, Barclays and BT. Her most recent executive role was serving as Chief Brand & Marketing Officer for Virgin, where she was responsible for setting the global direction of the Virgin Masterbrand across 40+ companies worldwide. Her remit covered brand strategy, customer experience, marketing effectiveness and sustainability.
Claire has strong industry stakeholder relationships and regulatory experience, gained through the Advertising Association, ISBA, The Marketing Society, The Marketing Group of Great Britain and Women in Advertising & Communications Leadership (WACL). She lives in Kingston with her husband, David, one dog and two cats, and has one grown-up daughter.
-
Mark Howe
Media Industry Background Member
Mark Howe retired as Google’s MD of Agencies & Ad Industry Relations EMEA in December 2022, after 17 years.
During these 17 years Mark held numerous Senior Sales Management roles within the UK, Northern Europe & EMEA and was seen as the Media Industry face of Google. Prior to that he held senior roles in TV sales.
Mark is also very well known to us through his long-standing role as an Asbof Board member and, since 2020, EASA Board member. Mark was instrumental in arranging the deal with EASA, signed in late 2020 and renewed at the end of last year, via which Google funds European ad self-regulatory bodies, including the ASA.
In his spare time Mark enjoys open water swimming, having now raced the Classic Escape from Alcatraz swim in San Francisco Bay three times. In 2019, he took on his first 10km marathon swim & the famous Hellespont swim, the world’s oldest swim from Europe to Asia.
He was educated at University College London & lives in Surrey, with his wife and sometimes his three children when they come home.
-
Rotha Johnston
Independent Member
Rotha Johnston is a director of Wildflower Property and previously co-owned a foodservice business. She is a director of the Joint Independent Group for Study and Action (JIGSA) and a director of the charity Ulster Garden Villages Ltd.
Previously, she was a BBC Trustee for Northern Ireland, Pro-Chancellor at Queen's University Belfast, a member of the Industrial Strategy Council, a Belfast Harbour Commissioner, Deputy Chair of Invest Northern Ireland, a director of AIB UK, and Chair of NIE Networks.
In 2016, she was awarded a DBE for services to the Northern Ireland economy and public service.
-
Richard Lloyd
Independent Member
Richard joined the Advertising Standards Authority Council in April 2020. He is the ASA’s Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Risk and Audit Committee.
He has been Chair of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority since 2019 and was a Board member of the Financial Conduct Authority from 2019 to 2026.
Previously, Richard was Executive Director of Which? from 2011 to 2016 and spent two years at Number 10 Downing Street as an adviser to the Prime Minister.
He was awarded an OBE in 2019 for services to the economy and consumer rights.
-
Monisha Shah
Independent Member
Monisha is a media professional with expertise in commercial, broadcast and digital media. She has extensive board-level experience across the arts, media, education and regulatory sectors.
She chairs the Legal Services Board, the King’s Counsel Selection Panel and the Publishers Licensing Agency, and is co-Chair of the Copyright Licensing Agency. In a voluntary capacity, she is a Trustee of the Royal Collection Trust and chairs the trustee board of Caterham School.
Previous roles include board positions with the Office for Students, Ofcom Content Board, Tate, National Gallery, Wikimedia UK and Art Fund, as well as the council of the Arts and Humanities Research Council. As a senior executive, she worked for BBC Worldwide (now BBC Studios) from 2000 to 2010.
In December 2015, Monisha was invited by the Prime Minister to join the Committee on Standards in Public Life. She has a postgraduate degree from SOAS University of London and an Executive MBA from London Business School.
Terms of Reference and Code of Conduct
All Council members are expected to comply with the Council Terms of Reference and the Council Code of Conduct, available to view here.
Register of interests and remuneration
Council Members are appointed for a maximum of two three-year terms and receive a payment of up to £20,500 p.a. A combined Register of Council Members’ Interests is available for download.