The John Smith Memorial Lecture: Gordon Brown

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown delivered the inaugural John Smith Memorial lecture to a sold-out crowd at the Cadogan Hall in London.

Prime Minister of the UK between 2007 and 2010, Gordon Brown was among John Smith’s closest colleagues. He used the lecture, the first in the Sir Victor Blank Series on the Future of Public Life, to give his perspective on how we can use Smith’s brand of politics to help combat today’s challenges.

The lecture coincided with the release of the New Statesman’s Britain’s Child Poverty Epidemic special issue, guest edited by Gordon Brown. The evening was opened by Saira Banu, an alumnus of our Minority Ethnic Emerging Leaders Programme, followed by Lord Neil Kinnock PC, Labour Leader from 1983 to 1992, who introduced Mr Brown. The night was rounded off by Baroness Catherine Smith KC, Advocate General for Scotland, co-founder and board member of the John Smith Centre, and John Smith’s youngest daughter.