Founded in 1979, Forest represents adults who choose to smoke tobacco and non-smoking adults who are tolerant of other people’s enjoyment of tobacco.
The group was set up by Sir Christopher Foxley-Norris, a former Battle of Britain fighter pilot. A lifelong pipe smoker who died in 2003 aged 86, Sir Christopher was awarded the DSO in 1945, OBE in 1956, CB in 1966, KCB in 1969, and GCB in 1973.
Chairman of Forest from 1987 until his death, aged 81, in October 2006, was another pipe smoker, Lord Harris of High Cross. Best known for his work at the Institute of Economic Affairs, where he was general director for 30 years (1957-1987), Ralph Harris was an active participant in the smoking debate. In 1998 he co-wrote, with Judith Hatton, Murder A Cigarette, and in 2005 he wrote a powerful essay, Smoking Out The Truth: A Challenge To The Chief Medical Officer.
Patron of Forest is TV chef and restaurateur Antony Worrall Thompson. Members of our Supporters Council have included artist David Hockney, musician Joe Jackson, and businessman Ranald Macdonald, CEO of Boisdale Bars and Restaurants. Past members of our Supporters Council, now deceased, have included inventor Trevor Baylis, Oscar-winning screenwriter Ronald Harwood.
There have been four full-time directors: Stephen Eyres (1983-1990), Chris Tame (1990-95), Marjorie Nicholson (1995-99), and Simon Clark (1999-present).
Forest spokesmen and women are regularly quoted by the print and digital media, and often appear on TV and radio.
We fought the ban on smoking in indoor public places, arguing that pubs, bars, and private members’ clubs should be allowed to decide their own policies on smoking.
We fought the introduction of standardised packaging of tobacco, delivering a petition with over 250,000 signatories to the Department of Health, and 53,000 letters to the then prime minister, David Cameron, opposing the measure.
We fought the display ban and the prohibition of menthol cigarettes, and we are currently opposing the introduction of a ban on the sale of tobacco to all future generations of adults on the grounds that it will infantilise young adults and fuel illicit trade.
