The Prime Minister has drawn criticism over his decision to reappoint Cynthia Carroll, chief executive of Anglo American, to his prestigious Business Council, the week after the mining company announced a controversial £200 million investment in Zimbabwe.

But what is the Business Council, and who sits on it alongside Ms Carroll?

The Business Council was introduced by Mr Brown in June last year, in the first days after he took office. The council brings together business leaders who meet at Downing Street to advise the Prime Minister on enterprise and economics issues. He recruited some of the biggest names in British business - from Sir Alan Sugar and Sir Richard Branson, to private equity master Damon Buffini and BP chief Tony Hayward, to leading retailers Sir Terry Leahy and Sir Stuart Rose.

The first chair was Mervyn Davies, chairman of Standard Chartered, who spoke out against Alistair Darling's controversial moves on capital gains tax and non-doms. At the most recent meeting yesterday the chairmanship passed to Stephen Green, chair of HSBC, though Mr Davies remains a member.

Along with the contentious reappointment of Ms Carroll, Mr Brown yesterday announced other changes to the council - the new chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline Andrew Witty joins, as his predecessor Jean-Pierre Garnier leaves, and the chief executives of BT, Ian Livingston, and Diageo, Paul Walsh, have also been appointed.

There are 18 council members in total:

Sir Richard Branson, founder, Virgin Group

Damon Buffini, chair, Permira

Sir William Castell, chair, Wellcome Trust

Mervyn Davies, chair, Standard Chartered Bank (Current Chair of Business Council)

Sir Rod Eddington, director, News Corporation

Stephen Green, chair, HSBC (Chair of the Business Council from January 2009 )

Tony Hayward, chief executive, BP

Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive, Tesco

Sir John Parker, chair, National Grid

Sir John Rose, chief executive, Rolls Royce

Sir Stuart Rose, executive chair, Marks & Spencer

Dame Marjorie Scardino, chief executive, Pearson

Sir Alan Sugar, chair, Amshold Group

Cynthia Carroll, chief executive, Anglo American

Lord Drayson

Ian Livingston, chief executive, BT

Paul Walsh, chief exective, Diageo

Andrew Witty, chief executive, GlaxoSmithKline

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