Last night, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown delivered the inaugural John Smith Memorial Lecture, the first event in the Sir Victor Blank Series on the Future of Public Life, to a sold-out crowd at Cadogan Hall, London.
Prime Minister of the UK between 2007 and 2010, Gordon Brown was among John Smith’s closest colleagues. He used the lecture to give his perspective on how we can use Smith’s brand of politics to help combat today’s challenges.
The lecture coincides with the release this week 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 Gordon.
In front of an audience of 900, Gordon reiterated John Smith’s belief that “A good economy can build a good society, and a good society can build a good economy.” He went on to discuss the breakdown of civil society in the UK and across other western countries, highlighting polling conducted by Focaldata showing strikingly low membership of civic organisations such as sports clubs, trade unions, and charities, as well as political parties, compared to their peak in the 20th century.
"When financial or transport infrastructure breaks down, we are up in arms to rebuild them. But civil society is breaking down and no one is doing anything."
Gordon stressed the importance of restoring the public square in order to combat the rise of ethnopopulist nationalism, calling on ordinary people to get involved in public life and improve the economy by building a better society.
He concluded by drawing attention to the historically high levels of child poverty in the UK today and outlining a number of measures that could bring this down. Cautioning against defeatism, he said, “We need a message of hope. We have to act as agents of hope.”
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, who spoke about the John Smith Centre’s mission to empower new and diverse voices to engage with and enter UK politics. Catherine also used the occasion to bring a fantastic year of John Smith Centre at 10 celebrations to an official end.
Thank you to Gordon, Neil, Catherine and Saira for their insights, to Sir Victor Blank for supporting the event, and to all who attended what was an unforgettable night!
