It’s time to draw a close to the John Smith Centre’s 10th anniversary celebrations.
Over the course of the last 12 months, the Centre has welcomed leading politicians from Gordon Brown to Ruth Davidson, Helena Kennedy to Anas Sarwar, Humza Yousaf to Michael Gove to talk to students and the wider public at the University of Glasgow about the challenges and opportunities of public life.
It’s been the year when we published our first UK Youth Poll report, putting the spotlight on the views and priorities of young people aged 16-29.
It’s also been a time of massive change at the Centre – with a new Director (me), a new Chair (Iain Anderson) and several new members of staff too. Thankfully Dr Elli Loose, our Research and Engagement Manager, has lasted the entire year so at least there’s someone who knows where the milk is.
So, what have we learnt over the course of this year? I’ll pick three things.
Firstly, as the podcast revolution continues to show, there’s a thirst out there for high-quality, well-informed, good-tempered political discussion and debate. Our events on campus and in London were well-attended and well-received – even those which had protests outside – and we intend to take that forward. The University of Glasgow has a long and proud political tradition as one of Europe’s great debating institutions and we want to keep holding in-person events that bring together political opponents and diverse figures to discuss the issues of the day. Constructive disagreement is still the best way to understand issues for the better and the Centre wants to champion that in coming years.
Secondly, our Youth Poll taught us to stop thinking about “young people” as a homogenous block. Gen Z is more like Gen A to Z: young people are not a homogeneous block and their attitudes and opportunities diverge significantly based on who they are and the life circumstances they face: for example, young people with higher education or secure jobs are far more optimistic and engaged than those struggling on the margins. In all the talk of generational war within the UK, we’ve learnt this year that intra-generational inequality is a huge deal too. For an organisation that seeks to support young people with the talent but not the means to play their part in the UK’s public life, that’s something we need to reflect on.
And finally, as Gordon Brown told us in the John Smith Memorial Lecture, efforts to create a healthier political culture are bound up in the need to create a more vibrant ‘public square’. As he put it: “There’s no such thing as society if all your civic associations are breaking down. I believe that it’s that vacuum that’s one of the main reasons why populist nationalism is rising and I believe that it’s upon ourselves to do something about it.” That’s actually an empowering message: Mr Brown’s point was that building a better politics isn’t something we need to wait for somebody else to enact, but which everyone can take up by choosing to get involved in their street, their communities and their country.
With your support, the John Smith Centre will be aiming to put those lessons into action at the University of Glasgow over the coming years.
