Laura Rayner is a Senior Policy Analyst for the Social Europe and Well-being Programme at the EPC. Her research focuses on EU social policies, in particular in relation to EU economic governance and COVID recovery. She is also active on long-term structural issues such as demographic change, the just transition, housing and the changing world of work.

Prior to joining the EPC, Laura worked for Eurodiaconia, a European network of Christian NGOs providing social and healthcare services and advocating for social justice. Her work was principally focused on the intersection between European economic governance and social policy (the European Semester, the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the Economy of Well-being), as well as on issues around demographic change and long-term care.

From 2008 until 2019, Laura was Chief of Staff for a Member of the European Parliament from Scotland, Alyn Smith MEP, and was actively involved in the campaigns around the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 and the UK-EU referendum in 2016.

Laura has a Master of Science in Scottish History from the University of Edinburgh and a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Stirling.