Neal is Chair of the UK centre-left ideas and campaigning group Compass and has written pamphlets for the organisation on the themes of democracy, equality and public sector reform.  He was author in 2009 of All Consuming (Penguin) and was co-editor in 2001 of the Progressive Century (Palgrave). He serves on the Board of UK Feminista, is a Contributing Editor and joint founder of the quarterly journal Renewal and is a Associate Member at the Bauman Institute at Leeds University.  He writes regularly for the Guardian and the New Statesman and appears on radio and TV to talk about Labour and left politics.  He was previously a trade union researcher, an adviser to Gordon Brown and a communications consultant.