Tony was born in Hampshire, England in 1963. He left his Southampton school at the age of 16, in the 1979 "winter of discontent" to attempt to manage local punk bands, using rock photography as a means to gain access to some of the leading bands of the time, including The Clash, Siouxsie & The Banshees, and the Cure.  He worked locally for several years, both in printing and as a gym instructor. In 1986 he left Southampton for Leicester Polytechnic, and graduated four years later with a degree in Economics, having taken a year out from the course to serve as President of the Students' Union.

From 1990 to 1992 he worked as the Research Assistant to Rt Hon Dr David Owen MP, Leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which included work on two books, one of which was Dr Owen's memoirs "Time to Declare". He also played an important role in the establishment of the Social Market Foundation think tank, then led by Lord Kilmarnock.

After Dr Owen's retirement from the House of Commons in 1992 Tony was as an Economic Adviser at the Civil Aviation Authority, and was heavily involved in issues related to the process of European liberalization of air transport services. During this time he also acted as Secretary of the European Union's air passenger users representative organisation, advising the European Commission, building his knowledge of European policymaking.

In 1995 he founded the Policy Analysis Centre with two other freelance economists, beginning with a research project on health policy. Soon afterwards he was appointed by Rt Hon Virginia Bottomley MP, the Secretary of State for Health, as a Special Adviser, and was reappointed in this role the following year when Rt Hon Stephen Dorrell MP became Secretary of State. During this time he was particularly involved in the development of the Primary Care Act and healthcare workforce issues.

After the 1997 General Election Tony returned to the Social Market Foundation, as Head of Research, and published a report on British public health policy with Professor Nick Bosanquet. In 1998 he joined the corporate headquarters of SmithKline Beecham plc (later GlaxoSmithKline plc), as Director of European Public Policy, responsible for the company's policy in a region spanning more than 30 countries, and in its work with the pharmaceutical industries trade associations in Europe and the United States.

After three years in the pharmaceutical industry he returned to independent research, once again at the Policy Analysis Centre, of which he is now Director. He has also been a Research Associate at the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE), where he teaches on MSc courses in international health policy, including pharmaceutical economics.

Tony has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (FRSA) since 1994, and spends his leisure time sailing a dayboat in the Solent and riding in the New Forest. Since 1995 he has held a Royal Yachting Association/DOT Coastal Skipper qualification, and is also a RYA Dinghy Instructor. He rides regularly with the New Forest Hounds.