[4][5][6][7] Fellows of the 48 Group Club have included Tony Blair, Jack Straw, Alex Salmond, Peter Mandelson, Ken Livingstone, and other politicians, retired diplomats, and prominent business executives.

[1][8][9] The 48 Group Club's chairman, Stephen Perry, has been a proponent of the Belt and Road Initiative and his commentary has been published by Chinese state media outlets.

"[12] In 2023, Yang Tengbo, an honorary board member of the 48 Group Club who has ties to Prince Andrew, Duke of York, was banned from entering the UK due to national security concerns.

From this foundation the club quickly developed an unrivalled level of trust and intimacy with the top leadership of the CCP, and has built itself into the most powerful instrument of Beijing's influence and intelligence gathering in the United Kingdom.

Reaching into the highest ranks of Britain's political, business, media and university elites, the club plays a decisive role in shaping British attitudes to China.In June 2020, the 48 Group Club and its chairman Stephen Perry launched a libel lawsuit in a failed attempt to block the publication of Hidden Hand in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.