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Thursday July 29 2010 6.30pm to 8.00pm
Portcullis House, Houses of Parliament
Chair: Andy Williamson, Hansard Society (Chair)
Speakers: Rachel Gibson, University of Manchester; Matthew
McGregor, Blue State Digital; Helen Duffett, LibDemVoice and former LibDem
candidate.
"Described variously as a non event, the dog that didn't
bark and a flop, the UK's first net election shocked all but the wise and sober
in failing to refashion the landscape of British electoral politics"
That was Stephen Coleman talking about the 2001 General
Election in the Hansard Society's Cyberspace Odyssey: Elections in the age of
the Internet. Nine years on, has much changed? Twitter, Facebook, blogs: 2010
was supposed to be Britain's first ‘internet election', but, in the end, it was
the televised leaders' debates that really captured the public imagination.
There was no pivotal moment at which we entered the age of internet
politics but the 2010 election shows how the internet has become a ‘business as
usual' space for people and, with this, for politics and campaigning.
Join the Hansard Society and our panellists for an
interactive conversation about what really happened online and behind the
scenes in the digital election.
Sign up here http://hs2010election.eventbrite.com/
or call 020 7438 1210
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July 7, 2010 at 6.30pm in Portcullis House, Westminster.
Chair: Dr. Andy Williamson (Director, Digital Democracy programme, Hansard Society).
Panelists: Dr. Paul Hodgkin (Patient Opinion); Tim Hood (Yoosk); Jon Kingsbury (NESTA).
This event was an exploration into the potential of online engagement in connecting MPs to their constituents and enabling politicians to embed current constituency relationships and forge new ones. There were introductions to online engagement tools Yoosk, Patient Opinion and MyMP, followed by an open and opinionated discussion between the audience and the panelists.
Listen to the introduction and Jon Kingsbury from NESTA
Listen to Paul Hodgkin and Jason Gough from Patient Opinion
Listen to Tim Hood from Yoosk and the Chair's remarks
Dr. Paul Hodgkin and Tim Hood used PowerPoint presentations - select the appropriate link below to access them:
Dr. Paul Hodgkin, Patient Opinion - Presentation slides
Tim Hood, Yoosk - Presentation slides
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Chair: Dr. Ruth Fox (Director, Parliament and Government Programme, Hansard Society)
Speakers: Rt. Hon. Henry McLeish (Former Scottish First Minister, Labour MSP and MP), Joyce McMillan (Scotsman)
This stimulating and wide-ranging Democracy Forum addressed various aspects of the new coalition politics in Westminster and their implications for the political landscape in the short to long term. While coalition politics is quite new to contemporary Westminster politics, this is not the case in other parts of the UK's democracy: the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood has been working with a coalition and minority government since 1999. Mindful of this, the two speakers - both stalwarts of Scottish politics - engaged with the issues facing Westminster politics as regards the new coalition and the possibilities for its future trajectory from positions of familiarity with the effects that coalition government has had on Holyrood.
Listen to the introduction and Rt. Hon. Henry McLeish
Listen to Joyce McMillan
Listen to the Q&A session (part one)
Listen to the Q&A session (part two) and concluding remarks
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Parliamentary reform: the Coalition Government's agenda after Wright
June 16, 6.30pm, Westminster.
Read the transcript of the keynote address
Listen to the keynote address
Listen to Sir George's response to audience questions
BBC Parliament and after that will be on BBC iPlayer.
Rt Hon Sir George Young Bt MP made his first keynote address since becoming Leader of the House and Lord of the Privy Seal to the Hansard Society in Westminster on June 16. He said that on Parliamentary reform he agreed in many ways with the Speaker of the House of Commons. He shared some personal observations about how the new Government is operating compared to a single party administration that he has been involved in. He said one of the most important factors will be the strength of the relationship between the two leaders of the party’s involved, saying that the access between the party’s was probably stronger that that between Blair and Brown, of the same party. He went on to comment on the hierarchy of Ministers and the relationships between them, in order to preserve the coalition, saying that decision making dynamic has changed, possibly to make decisions more durable as they require stronger consensus across parties. Sir George said it was producing a grown-up approach to politics that was also a reflection of the governments approach to Parliament.
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Reform in a new Parliament - Reviving the Chamber, a lecture by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt. Hon. John Bercow MP, June
9, Westminster.
Following on from the PSA/
Hansard Society Annual Lecture in November 2009 where Mr Speaker laid out his vision on
how to best engage the public with Parliament, Rt. Hon. John Bercow MP gave a lecture in which he set out how and why the Chamber needs to be and can be revived. The speech, chaired by Hansard Society Chairman Peter Riddell, was followed by questions from a number of the audience members and Speaker Bercow's responses to them.
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An event to discuss the Hansard Society & British Council's new pamphlet Has Devolution Delivered for Women? made some excellent contributions to the debate around women's involvement in politics, from both the panel speakers and members of the audience.
Listen to the introduction to the pamphlet and speakers
Listen to Wendy Alexander MSP
Listen to Dr. Fiona Mackay (University of Edinburgh)
Listen to Leslie Riddoch
See some photos
Photos & audience contribution audio will follow shortly. Read the full write up.
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Since its inception the Hansard Society has made many influential recommendations for parliamentary reform. In the run up to the general election the Hansard Society asked the three main parties to lay out their party's plans for parliamentary reform, should that party form the new government. These lectures have been collected in a pamphlet, The Reform Challenge, along side speeches from the Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt Hon John Bercow MP and the Lord Speaker, Baroness Hayman, to give an overview of their ideas for reform. In addition, Dr Ruth Fox, Director of the Parliament and Government programme, examines public confidence in Parliament and MPs, and proposes priority areas for reform. The lectures were chaired by Peter Riddell (Chair of the Hansard Society).
Click here to download The Reform Challenge.
Read and listen to the MPs' speeches.
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Tuesday March 16 at 6.30pm, Houses of Parliament, Westminster.
Speakers:
- Professor Philip Cowley (academic and author of Revolts and Rebellions: Parliamentary Voting Under Blair)
- Chris Mullin MP (Labour MP for Sunderland South)
- Cllr Diane Park (independent PPC for Halifax)
- - Dr Richard Taylor MP (independent MP for Wyre Forest)
Chair: Virginia Gibbons (Head of Communications, Hansard Society)
Listen again
Dr Richard Taylor MP & Chris Mullin MP
Cllr Diane Park & Professor Phillip Cowley
Q&A 1
Q&A 2
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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
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The Hansard Society and the British Council hosted this event at the Festival of Politics.
Chair: Joyce McMillan (The Scotsman & Chair, Hansard Society Scotland
Working Group)
Panel:
Professor Alice Brown (Former Scottish Public Services
Ombudsman)
Rosemary Butler AM (Deputy Presiding Officer of the Welsh
Assembly)
Johann Lamont MSP (Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party)
Professor Laura McAllister (Professor of Governance, University of Liverpool &
Independent Adviser to the Parliamentary Services Board of the National Assembly
for Wales)
"Since devolution, Scotland
and Wales
have been viewed as international beacons of progress in establishing fair and
effective representation for women in politics.
But at the 2007 election the number of female MSPs dropped
for the first time since devolution - women now occupy just 33% of the seats in
the Scottish Parliament. In contrast, women secured 46% of the seats in
the National Assembly for Wales.
So was the 2007 result in Scotland
just a temporary setback?"
Click here to see the photos from the event and listen to the audio
You can read the twitter feed from the event here
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The Hansard Society, House of Commons and Study of Parliament Group held a very succesful conference celebrating 30 years of select committees, in the Attlee Suite, Portcullis House, with over 130 attendees. It was very interesting with a wide variety of views: people who were instrumental in setting up the current committee system; parliamentary specialists; academics; Clerks of the House of Commons and the House of Lords and members of the Hansard Society. The event consisted of three panels:
The origins and evolution of select committees
Chair: David Natzler (Clerk of Committees) Speakers: Gavin Drewry (Royal Holloway, University of London),
Chris Price (former Chair of the Education Select Committee), Bill Proctor
(former clerk to the Procedure Committee)
This looked at how the departmental select committees were established and provided some inetersting thoughts for those tasked with taking forward further reforms such as regional committees.
The challenges for scrutiny
Listen to the audio
Chair: Dr Meg Russell (Constitution Unit, UCL) Speakers: Peter Luff MP (Chair of the Business and Enterprise Committee), Sir Nicholas Monck (former Permanent Secretary and member of the Better Government initiative) , Helen Irwin (former Clerk of Committees)
This session looked at some of the key challenges faced by select committees over the last thirty years, for example what impact have select committees had on government.
The future of select committees Listen to the audio
Chair: Dr Ruth Fox (Hansard Society) Speakers:Professor the Lord Norton of Louth (University of Hull) Peter Riddell (The Times and the chair of the Hansard Society) Tony Wright MP (Chair of the Public Administration Select Committee)
This final session from the Hansard Society looked at how the departmental select committee system has perhaps been part of a growth in the culture of scrutiny by committees. It considered what possibilities select committees offer for further reform and development of the House of Commons.
Read the papers from this event.
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At our democracy forum Young People: Who cares what they think? the speakers and audience discussed what, exactly, should be the contribution of under-18s to politics?
- Are young people properly represented in our democratic system?
- Are young people's views best expressed by those with more life experience?
- Which is more important - representation or experience?
The discussion was really interesting and the young people in the audience raised some excellent points about issues such as 'votes at 16' and some interesting views on the citizenship education that they receive in school. Click here to listen to the event and see photos
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The Hansard Society Democracy Forum, What lessons should Westminster learn from Holyrood? marked the London launch of the Hansard Society Scotland publication The Scottish Parliament 1999-2009: The first Decade .The event took place in Westminster on the May 19 with a packed room and lively debate.
The Democracy Forum brought together key political and legal experts on the Scottish Parliament to discuss what the UK Parliament could learn from the last 10 years of the Scottish Parliament. The speakers were Joyce McMillan (Chair, Hansard Society Scotland Working Group), Lord Wallace of Tankerness (former Leader, Scottish Liberal Democrats); Peter Wishart (SNP Constitutional Affairs Spokesperson) and Michael Clancy OBE (Director, Law Reform The Law Society of Scotland). The event will be covered on Today in Parliament on Radio Four this Friday (May 21).
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The Hansard Society organised a series of Why Vote? debates and hustings in Scotland in the lead up to the European elections in June, in partnership with the European Movement and the CSPP
The events in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and two in Glasgow were well attended and there was excellent debate.
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The sixth Audit of Political Engagement was launched today in Parliament to a full house. The MPs who spoke at the event had varying views on how best to engage the public with politics and the 'Obama effect' in the UK: Shahid Malik MP said that democratic governments must govern in the interests of all society, not just those with the loudest voices; Shailesh Vara MP said that he disagreed with positive discrimination and that people should be elected, like Barack Obama, on their own merit; Jo Swinson MP pointed out that when politics and politicians have a bad reputation it creates a spiral of disengagement.
Listen to the full event
See the photos
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Wednesday 18 March, 6.30pm, House of Commons, Westminster.
This Hansard Society Democracy Forum examined the ‘special
relationship' between the UK and the US in the context of the recent
presidential elections and the forthcoming Euro elections.
Chair: Fiona Booth
Speakers: Charles Kennedy MP; Bronwen Maddox, Chief Foreign
Commentator, The Times; Mark Tokola, Minister-Counselor for Economic
Affairs, American Embassy; Caroline Flint MP, Minister of State,
Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
You can listen to the event:
Part 1 Charles Kennedy MP; Mark Tokola, American Embassy
Part 2 Bronwen Maddox, The Times; Caroline Flint MP
Part 3 Q&A
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A Democracy Forum that discussed the implications of globalised forces upon democratic engagement.
Wednesday 28 January 2009, 6pm, Portcullis House, Westminster.
Chaired by: Virginia Gibbons (Hansard Society)
Speakers: Dr Vincent Cable MP (Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader & Shadow Chancellor); Ken Livingstone; Angela Knight (Chief Executive, British Bankers Association); Tony Travers (Director, Greater London Group, LSE)
This Democracy Forum, with reference to the current financial crisis, discussed whether we are passive consumers of globalised forces, or whether we have an active role to play as citizens in a democracy. The speakers were all excellent. Tony Travers made the distinction between citizens and consumers, saying that citizens acted as a collective as opposed to the individualism of a consumer. Ken Livingstone, as well as recounting amusing anecdotes about his time as Mayor, discussed the need for the return of power to local government who can then be held accountable for their actions by local citizens, citing the 'choice' in schools and hospitals as an example of failed centralisation of power and treating citizens as consumers.
Dr Vince Cable gave some interesting examples of the tensions between an individual's role as a citizen and a consumer in the current financial crisis, for example as a self-interested consumer in hard times the instinct is to save money, however we are told that as citizens our duty is to spend and keep the economy going. Angela Knight agreed with some of Ken Livingstone's points, however she suggested that the removal of power from people to institutions such as the European Union, whilst not necessarily wrong, had left people feeling less like citizens and politicians must be honest in these tough times to combat that.
Listen to the panel:
Tony Travers (LSE) & Ken Livingstone
Dr Vince Cable MP & Angela Knight (British Banker's Association)
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A Democracy Forum that examined Gordon Brown's first year as Prime Minister
Speakers: Professor Michael Rush (joint editor of Palgrave Review of British Politics); Dr Philip Giddings (joint editor of Palgrave Review of British Politics); Peter Riddell (Chair, Hansard Society); Professor Philip Cowley (University of Nottingham). Chair: Kate Jenkins (Vice Chair, Hansard Society)
It was an excellent meeting with very interesting comment and debate
on the different aspects of Gordon Brown's first year as Prime Minster.
The speakers at this event were all contributors to the latest edition
of The Palgrave Review of British Politics.
Michael Rush introduced the Palgrave Review, Philip Giddings spoke on 'mapping the voyage', Peter Riddell examined Gordon
Brown's first year at the helm and Philip Cowley spoke on
Parliament under Gordon Brown.
To order your copy of When Gordon Took the Helm: The Palgrave Review of British Politics 2007-08 at the special price of £29.99 (usually £59.99), go to www.palgrave.com and enter this unique discount code: WHELM2008a.
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John Harris, when discussing class politics in the Guardian, referred to the speech made by Hazel Blears at Hansrad Society's Revitalising Politics conference on 5/6 November.
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On October 29, 2008 the Hansard Society held a seminar in the Scottish Parliament to explore the different characteristics of online engagement. Organised in collaboration with Microsoft, the session focused not simply on the technology but also on the impact of organisational culture and the broader context of citizen disenfranchisement.
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The Revitalising Politics: have we lost the plot? conference took place on November 5/6 2008 in Parliament. It was organised by the Hansard Society and Professors Gerry Stoker (University of Southampton) and Colin Hay (University of Sheffield).
Visit the Revitalising Politics website to read and comment on all the conference papers and the keynote speeches by Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP and Chris Huhne MP.
Read press coverage
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The Political Studies Association/Hansard Society 2008 Annual Lecture was given by Rt Hon Clare Short MP to a packed meeting at Westminster.
The Political Studies Association/Hansard Society Annual Lecture was introduced by Fiona Booth (Chief Executive, Hansard Society) and Prof Vicky Randall (Chair, PSA).
Click to listen to the Clare Short MP's speech and the Q&A session. View the photos.
Clare Short's speech:
‘It is widely agreed that the confidence of the people of the UK in their political system has been deeply undermined in recent years. Many agree that this cynicism is bad for democracy and believe that we must do more to educate the public in the workings of the political system. My own conclusion, after 25 years in electoral politics, is that our system is deeply flawed and visibly deteriorating in both the quality and democratic accountability of its decision-making. I suggest therefore that public education is likely to increase rather than decrease public cynicism and what is needed is a more determined demand for reform of the system.'
The PSA/Hansard Society Annual Lecture given by Rt Hon Clare Short MP was shown on BBC Parliament on Saturday November 1, 2008 at 10pm.
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People Like Us: Is Scottish Society fairly reflected in Holyrood?
Saturday 18 October, 12.30-1.30pm, at the Royal George Hotel in Perth.
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Over 90 people attended a Hansard Society meeting in Westminster to discuss a new
briefing based on original Hansard Society research about women's attitudes to
politics. The panel was: Helen Goodman MP (Government Whip), Ros Taylor (The Guardian), Dr Jonathan Dean (Gender Institute, London School of Economics), and Lee Chalmers (the Downing Street Project). The event was chaired by Dr
Sarah Childs (Bristol
University).
Click here for a full write up, audio and the research paper.
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Channel 4/the Hansard Society have had an extremely succesful series of events at the Autumn 2008 party political conferences. We had lots of high profile speakers, the debates were of a very high quality and there was some controversial moments!