Drawing on her long experience in foreign affairs, diplomacy, and trade, Catherine Ashton contributes to Eurasia Group's EU, UK, and global geopolitical expertise and offerings for clients. She served as the first vice president of the European Commission and high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy from 2009–2014. Her political career began in 1999 when she was made a life peer by Tony Blair's Labour government. She worked in both education and justice before serving as leader of the House of Lords and lord president of the queen's Privy Council from 2007–2008. Following her appointment as European trade commissioner in 2008, Ashton represented the EU in a longstanding beef dispute with the US and helped broker an agreement with South Korea that removed most tariffs between the two economies, among other accomplishments. During her tenure as the EU's top diplomat and first vice president of the European Commission, Ashton led the P5+1 talks on Iran's nuclear program and helped negotiate an agreement to normalize ties between Serbia and Kosovo in 2013, earning a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. Ashton is based in London.