Career
He is a British writer and a campaigner for democracy. He was the first Director of Charter 88 from 1988 to 1995 and Company-Director of the Convention on Modern Liberty (2008–2009) with Henry Porter. He was a student at Cambridge University, where he was active in the Labour Club, and lodged with Nicholas Kaldor.
He was awarded an honorary doctorate from The Open University in September 2013.
He has also written for Prospect. He conceived the television film England"s Henry Moore (1988), which concerned the sculptor"s co-option by the British establishment.
In 2001 he founded openDemocracy with Paul Hilder, Susie Richards and David Hayes and was its Editor and then its Editor-in-Chief until 2007. He lives with Judith Herrin.
The couple have two daughters, the singer Tamara Barnett Herrin and Portia Barnett-Herrin.
Barnett is a writer of articles, blog posts and long essays on a regular basis for openDemocracy.
