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Sheela Mackintosh-Stewart is a family solicitor and ex-barrister, specialising in family law and a popular UK media commentator. Mackintosh-Stewart is founder of iFamiliesUK a family law consultancy service with a wider family and relationship agenda, and has a record of championing and facilitating divorce settlements, family conflict resolution and break-ups.

Mackintosh-Stewart is focused on reducing relationship breakdowns, having seen the devastating impact of divorce and separation first hand. Through Sheela Mackintosh-Stewart Consultancy, she advocates for everyone to become ‘relationship-smarter’. She is often referred to as a 'Relationship Guru ' and 'Relationship Expert ' by the national and international media for her quest to empower the nation to achieve healthier, fulfilling and more sustainable family, social, work and love relationships. In addition, Mackintosh-Stewart is frequently asked to comment on relationship stories related to celebrities and the Royal Family.

Mackintosh-Stewart also takes in interest in cultural diversity and international business etiquette and has written in many publications on these subjects  , including contributing to Policy Exchange on barriers facing the British Chinese and for briefings in the House of Commons.

Her voluntary, community and social justice, charity and philanthropic work reflect her commitment to addressing and delivering on gaps in diversity, racial and societal inequalities and creating breakthrough opportunities and positive impact through mentoring and nurturing individuals who need a ‘helping hand’ to overcome their own unique challenges.

Early Life and Education
Mackintosh-Stewart (nee Kaur Magherra) was born in Singapore and is of mixed Chinese and Sikh heritage. She was raised in Malaysia and Singapore before settling in the UK. She grew up in very rural parts of Malaysia including the Pahang jungle, Bukit Ibam, Mersing, and Johor Baru. She has three siblings, one sister and two brothers.

Mackintosh-Stewart attended local rural primary schools in Malaysia and completed her secondary school education at Assumption English School and National Junior College in Singapore, where she received an ASEAN scholarship. She then attended Queen Mary College, London University where she read Law, where she graduated with an LLB (Hons) degree.

Personal life
Mackintosh-Stewart is fluent in English and fairly fluent in Malay with a basic understanding of Mandarin. She is married to James Stewart CBE. She has two daughters from a previous marriage, Alexandra Mackintosh and Elisabeth Mackintosh.

Legal Career
Mackintosh-Stewart qualified as a barrister after completing her training at the Inns of Court, School of Law and was admitted to the Bar in England and Wales, Middle Temple in 1988. She completed her pupillage at 3 New Square, London. She re-trained and qualified as a solicitor in 1991, and worked for large London City firms including DJ Freeman Solicitors and Withers Solicitors. She became a Litigation & Family Partner at Ashley Wilson Solicitors in Knightsbridge, specialising in family law and divorce cases.

Mackintosh-Stewart went on to set up iFamiliesUK, (previously called ’Divorce & Family Law Information Service’) in 2003, to meet a need for ‘first port of call’ professional family law consultancy service for those facing family breakdown and fractured family relationships. She provides a practical, legal, financial overview and information package and plan to include personal wellbeing, dispute resolution, conflict management and collaborative working to help couples reach a realistic, mutually amicable settlement where possible, to eclipse aggressive litigation, legal costs, delay and family trauma and allow them to engage more harmoniously post-separation. This is complemented by her consultancy, founded in 2015 to coach individuals and couples to strengthen relationship skills.

Mackintosh-Stewart is also a matrimonial consultant at the International Family Law Group and Jackson & Lyon LLP.

Voluntary and Community Work
Mackintosh-Stewart is actively involved and laser-focused on driving societal changes through her voluntary, charity, and social justice work. She is a powerful community-builder bringing and investing in like-minded talented people and communities together to build powerhouses, team-working collaboratively and proactively engage, share, inspire, support, achieve success and building powerhouses win together.

In 2013, she co-founded Diaspora Talent (previously known as Diaspora Emerging Leadership Programme), developing 75 young leaders from all diasporas to become ‘future-ready’ and become a powerful group of visible and talented British Chinese leaders who can not only fill the under-represented diversity pipelines in many organisations but who can who can also lead on creating more local, national and global partnerships for UK PLC post-Brexit.

Mackintosh-Stewart sits on the steering committee of China Talent Network, a Price Waterhouse Cooper-led initiative, to mentor and nurture talented Chinese diaspora leaders, and has also judged PwC-Sinopro Business Leaders Awards in 2017.

In 2009, Mackintosh-Stewart co-authored the Breakthrough Britain: ‘Every Family Matters’ Report, advocating measures to strengthen marriages and reduce family break-up, on behalf of the Family Law Policy Reform Group for the Centre for Social Justice. and the ‘European Family Law: Faster Divorce and Foreign Law’ Report.

She was also a London Law Society mentor for junior lawyers and School Governor at Beaconsfield High School.

Mackintosh-Stewart also co-authors a mother-daughter relationship blog with her daughter Alexandra (Ally) Mackintosh 'i’mhavingamare' for young people's to help them successfully manage and navigate through life's 'mares' as they journey through adulthood.

Charity and philanthropic work
Mackintosh-Stewart was Chairman of NSPCC Buckinghamshire (2005) and Chairman NSPCC Beaconsfield & Gerrards Cross (2003-2005). As Vice-Chairman of the London Red Cross Committee (2003-2005) she raised substantial funds for the relief efforts during the July 2005 London bombings. She was trustee of DrugFAM and Street Dreams and fund-raised for Rainbow Trust charity for sick and terminally ill children. She was a founder member of ‘Friends of Knotty Green’ Project reviving a local dilapidated playground, nominated for HM Queen’s Special Award.

Political Activism
Mackintosh-Stewart is politically active in the Conservative Party, co-founding and co-chairing the Conservative Friends of the Chinese (CFOC), with Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP. CFOC’s successes include building 6000 strong membership, hosting social and political hubs to engage on political engagement and filling the diversity pipeline to increase Parliamentary representation from BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) communities. The pandemic has also resulted in unacceptable levels of hate crimes against the British Chinese communities and following the CFOC statement released on 1 June 2020, the Prime Minister made a televised statement strongly denouncing the intolerable Sinophobic attacks on the Chinese communities.

Mackintosh-Stewart has hosted events with many senior politicians including Cabinet Ministers to engage with the British Chinese communities and recently co-hosted a webinar with her co-chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP to discuss ‘Strengthening Sustainable Areas of Growth in UK-China Relations’ with guest speakers Professor Kerry Brown, Dr. Linda Yueh, James Stewart CBE and Paul Barnes.

Mackintosh-Stewart is a Vice President and previously Chairman of the Beaconsfield Constituency Conservative Association, a Parliamentary Board Assessor and previously on the Women2Win Advisory board, working to increase women and BAME representation in Parliament. She also regularly speaks on the subject on how we can encourage and facilitate more women to become involved in politics. She was a member of the Conservative Party’s BAME Working Group and co-founded Strategies2Win Consultancy, mentoring and assisting women Parliamentary candidates to be ‘selection-ready ’.

Mackintosh-Stewart was previously an advisor to the All Parliamentary Party Group on East Asian Business and a Beaconsfield Town Councillor (2012-2016).

Broadcasting and Media Commentary
Mackintosh-Stewart is a regular media contributor on the topics of marriage breakdown, relationships and families including major TV networks such as Sky News Sophie Ridge and BBC Victoria Derbyshire, BBC Asian Network and BBC Radio Kent.

Sheela's commentary focuses on range of relationship issues and contributes to all UK papers including The Mail Online, The Times, Financial Times, The Telegraph, The Independent, Spears, Huffington Post, CityA.M, The Sun, Metro, Yahoo, BBC, The Daily Express, Glamour magazine and the Daily Star. She also contributes on legal commentary     , including for Lawyer Monthly Magazine.

She has been regularly invited to speak on many podcasts including the ‘Parenthood’ Podcast on ‘How to tame your teenager’ with Marina Fogle, MailOnline on ‘How to deal with your husband’s mid-life crisis’ , About Time Magazine on ‘Love, Lust, Dating in London ’.

Sheela is also a regular contributor and commentator on international publications.

She is also a regular speaker at seminars including in-house seminars at the Discovery Channel on ‘Creating a Blueprint for Better Relationships’ and ‘Building Blocks of highly functioning and successful families’, the Big Tent Ideas Festival 2018 and the Institute of Directors on International Women’s Day 2020.

Awards and Honors
Mackintosh-Stewart was selected as a Woman of Achievement by the 2009 Women of the Year Nominating Council for special contributions to society/workplace. She was awarded by Mulan Foundation for her contribution to philanthropy.

Publications

 * Mackintosh, Sheela (2009). 'Every Family Matters'. Centre for Social Justice. ISBN: 978-0-9562088-8-0
 * Mackintosh, Sheela (2009). 'The gasping need for marriage information services.' Conservativehome.
 * Mackintosh-Stewart, Sheela (2018). 'The Big Tent Festival Debate on Love and Marriage'. The Times.
 * Mackintosh-Stewart, Sheela (2018). 'The Challenges of Inter Racial Celebrity Marriages.' The HuffPost.
 * Mackintosh-Stewart, Sheela (2018). 'Help my Husband is Having a Mid-Life Crisis.' The Telegraph.
 * Mackintosh-Stewart, Sheela (2018). 'Advice on co-habiting couples.' The Daily Mail.
 * Mackintosh-Stewart, Sheela (2018). 'Ways to take care of mental health in a breakup.' The Metro.
 * Mackintosh-Stewart, Sheela (2018). 'Do's and don't of meeting the in laws for the first time.' MTV.
 * Mackintosh-Stewart, Sheela (2019). 'The Myths that surround common law co-habitation'. FT Advisor.
 * Mackintosh-Stewart, Sheela (2019). 'What to do when your best friend gets a boyfriend.' Glamour Magazine.
 * Mackintosh-Stewart, Sheela (2019). 'Financial mistakes you're making in your marriage.' City AM.
 * Mackintosh-Stewart, Sheela (2019). 'International Business Etiquette.' Spears.
 * Mackintosh-Stewart, Sheela (2019). 'How to celebrate valentines day without actually celebrating it.' Unilad.