Robin Simcox  served as the Commissioner for Countering Extremism between March 2021 - July 2025. In this role, he was responsible for providing independent advice and scrutiny on government's approach to tackling all forms of extremism. Robin acted as adviser to six Home Secretaries and served in both Conservative and Labour governments.

Beforehand, Robin had over a decade's worth of experience working for think tanks based in the UK and the US. Most recently, in 2020, he founded the Counter Extremism Group, a London- based think tank providing non-partisan research, commentary and policy advice on all forms of extremism. In 2016, he was based at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., where he ran their counterterrorism research programme. 

Robin has testified before the US Congress on multiple occasions on issues related to ISIS, al-Qaeda, and associated movements. He has also provided oral evidence to multiple Parliamentary committees, including the Home Affairs Select Committee.

Robin received a Master of Science degree in US foreign policy from the Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History (International) from the University of Leeds.

Research Interests

• Extremism
• Terrorism
• Terrorism Prevention
• Radicalisation 

Publications

• "Terrorists don't dabble with ideology they take it deadly seriously", The Times, March 20th, 2025.
• "Extremism is not always a black-and- white issue", New Statesman, April 2024.
• "Extremist acts have been normalised in Britain. Government must move faster to keep us safe", The Telegraph, March 7th, 2024.
• "PREVENT: The United Kingdom Responds to Terrorism", in Leonard Weinberg et al. (ed.) Handbook of Democracy and Security (Routledge, 2024).
• "Hate marches in Britain are a wake-up call to all decent people", The Times, October 19th, 2023.
• "A View from the CT Foxhole: Robin Simcox", CTC Sentinel (May 2023, Volume 16, Issue 5).
• "To combat far right, government must first understand how it ticks", The Times, March 29th, 2021.
• "The United Kingdom's approach to counterterrorism” in Michael A. Sheehan et al. (ed.) Handbook of U.S. Counterterrorism and Irregular Warfare Operations (Routledge, 2021)