James Lyons

James Lyons is a senior partner at Penta, drawing on three decades across politics, journalism and business to advise clients on corporate reputation, special situations, crisis and issues management, stakeholder engagement and public policy.

He joined Penta after serving as the UK Prime Minister's Director of Strategic Communications at 10 Downing Street, where he ran the government "grid," leading news planning, cross-Whitehall coordination and narrative development, and oversaw the New Media Unit. He joined government after helping write the Labour Party's winning 2024 election manifesto.

Before Number 10, James set up and led TikTok's European Corporate and Policy Communications function, devising integrated campaigns to build trust with policymakers and opinion formers, managing high-stakes reputational issues, and leading executive deployments including TikTok's activation at the World Economic Forum.

He was previously Director of Communications at NHS England, where he played a central role in the UK's Covid-19 response, leading PR and stakeholder management for the world's first Covid-19 vaccination programme.

Earlier in his career, James was a political journalist, serving as Deputy Political Editor at The Sunday Times and The Mirror, and he remains a commentator regularly appearing across the BBC, Sky News, Times Radio and other outlets.