Recent Events
Details of recent events held by the Hansard Society can be found below.
We audio record our events where possible, for a list of all of our recent events which can be listened to via mp3 download, please click here
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March 3, 6.30pm, Portcullis House, Westminster.
The 7th edition of our annual Audit of Political Engagement was launched on Wednesday March 3. The Audit this year has a
special focus on MPs and Parliament, raises a number of topical issues
in the context of MPs' expenses and the forthcoming general election,
and provides longer term reflections on the level of continuity and
change charted in the Audit findings over the course of this Parliament.
Download the Audit of Politicial Enagement
See the photos
Listen to the event:
Dr Ruth Fox presents the Audit's findings
Rt Hon David Blunkett MP
Shailesh Vara MP
The Lord Rennard MBE
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Thursday 25 February, Portcullis House, Westminster
Speaker: Peter Riddell (Hansard Society
Chair)
Introduction by Professor Steven Fielding (Joint editor of Parliamentary Affairs)
Chaired by Dr Ruth Fox (Director of Parliament & Government Programme, Hansard Society)
In 2009 the reputation of politicians and politics itself
reached rock bottom. Peter Riddell, Chair of the Hansard Society, gave
his speech
at the inaugural Parliamentary Affairs Annual lecture, examining the
role of politicians in a modern representative democracy.
Read the write up, download the full speech, see the photos and leave a comment.
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In Westminster
on Tuesday February 9 the Hansard Society addressed issues of equality and women's rights
by asking the question ‘How many women does it take to make a difference?'. The
panel included Professor Sarah Childs (Professor of Politics and
Gender, University of Bristol),
Nadine Dorries
MP, Harriet Harman MP (Minister for
Women & Equality) and Linda
Tarr-Whelan (former
Ambassador to the UN Commission on
the Status of Women). The speakers addressed the issue from a number of
perspectives and viewpoints creating a debate which was serious, rational, informative and inspiring. International data and
research was combined with candid insights into life in parliament and
politics.
See the photos on Flickr
Listen to the audio
Linda Tarr-Whelan & Harriet Harman MP
Nadine Dorries MP & Professor Sarah Childs
Q&A
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On
Tuesday January 5 Sir Ian Kennedy, Chair of the Independent
Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) gave a speech setting the
context for the proposed MPs' expenses scheme and how
it will be administered.
Chaired
by Fiona Booth, Chief Executive at the Hansard Society.
Download the speech here
Read the press coverage here
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A Speech by the Lord Speaker, Rt Hon the Baroness Hayman
Last night the Lord Speaker addressed the Hansard Society in the exquisite Robing Room in the House of Lords. This historic room provided a fitting setting for her lecture on the past, present and future of the House of Lords. The Lord Speaker's principle assertion was that the key to reform lay in the upper house taking control of its own destiny; 'proving that self regulation..so fundamental to parliamentary democracy, can be made to work in line with 21st century expectations of openness, transparancy amd accountability'. Touching on the composition of the House of Lords and engagement with the wider public, the Lord Speaker emphasised that reform must take into account the valued history of the Lords whilst at the same time ensuring its future.
Read the speech in full here.
Listen to the audio: Lord Speaker's speech Q&A
The speech will be aired on BBC Parliament on Saturday December 12 at 9pm.
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Tuesday December 8th, House of Commons, Westminster
In Westminster last night the Hansard Society addressed the issue of Civil liberties, asking the question, ‘Are we at the mercy of the state?' What followed was an extremely lively debate between our panel, former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, journalist and commentator Peter Oborne and Henry Porter political columnist and novelist. The principal issues of contention were the DNA database, ID cards and detention without charge - all within a wider debate concerning the plethora of anti-terror laws we have seen introduced over the last eight years.
Listen to the audio:
Henry Porter, Sir Ian Blair and Peter Oborne Civil Liberties Q&A
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The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow MP
November 30, Portcullis House, Westminster
Last
night the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow MP (pictured with Fiona Booth, Chief Executive of the Hansard Society) delivered the PSA/
Hansard Society Annual Lecture to a packed audience in Portcullis House. This
was the second lecture delivered by the Speaker to a Hansard Society audience,
taking us yet further into the challenge of public engagement in the light of
the ‘reputational carnage' wreaked upon our constitutional institutions by the
expenses scandal. The lecture, entitled ‘Parliament
in an anti-politics age: the outreach challenge', took the following
approach. Firstly Mr Speaker was keen to issue an apology to all those employed
within the parliamentary estate for the damage done. Likening recent events to
the falling of Nazi bombs on the House in 1941, John Bercow MP stated that
nothing bar ‘wholesale reform' would offer Parliament the opportunity to
reconnect with the public.
The speech will be shown on the BBC Parliament channel at 9pm on Saturday December 5 and will be on BBC iPlayer thereafter.
Listen to the event: The Speaker's speech Q&A
View the photographs of the event on flickr here
Read the speech in full here
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Last night over 200 Hansard Society supporters gathered in Westminster to debate Constitutional Change: Who Gains? Who Loses? On the panel was Graham Allen MP, Professor Vernon Bogdanor, David Howarth MP and Sir George Young MP. The panel discussed how far we have come and where we need to go to encourage greater public participation and open up our political system.
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Wednesday October 21
Portcullis House, Westminster
Last night Iain Dale, Kerry McCarthy MP, Jo Swinson MP and Andrew Walker, Co-Founder of Tweetminster joined the Hansard Society in a brilliantly entertaining debate on Twitter: Communication Tool or Pointless Vanity? The panel addressed a packed room in Portcullis House including both Twitterers and Non-Twitterers!
To read our Digital Paper on Twitter: Communication tool or Pointless vanity? click here
Listen to the Audio: Kerry McCarthy MP & Jo Swinson MP Andrew Walker & Iain Dale Q&A
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Parliamentary Reform: The Route from Here to There
A Speech by the Speaker of the House of Commons
Thursday 24th September, 2009
The Rt. Hon
John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, gave a speech yesterday to a
sizeable and eager Hansard Society audience at Portcullis House in Westminster.
The Speaker's speech will be aired on BBC Parliament on Saturday 26th September at 10pm.
Click here to view the full transcript of the speech.
Listen to the event: The Speech Q&A Part 1 Q&A Part 2
See the photos on Flickr