Birkbeck's Leading Voices - An Evening with Sir Ed Davey MP in conversation with Professor David Latchman CBE
When:
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Venue:
Birkbeck Clore Management Centre
What shapes a life in public service? How do personal experience, education and political conviction influence the decisions made at the highest levels of British politics?
In the fourth event in Birkbeck’s Leading Voices series, Professor David Latchman CBE will be joined by Sir Ed Davey MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats and a Birkbeck alumnus and Fellow, for a wide-ranging conversation about political leadership, public service and some of the major challenges facing the UK today.
Drawing on almost three decades in frontline politics, the conversation will explore what effective political leadership looks like in a changing Britain, the role of opposition in scrutinising and holding government to account and how politicians balance the concerns of their local communities with the national and global challenges facing the country.
Sir Ed will also reflect on the experiences that have shaped his own political priorities. From his personal experience of caring and his campaigning on health and social care, to his longstanding interest in environmental issues and experience as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the discussion will consider how lived experience and personal conviction can translate into public policy.
The conversation will also return to where Sir Ed’s relationship with Birkbeck began. He studied part-time for an MSc in Economics while working as an economics researcher and has credited his studies with helping to inform his approach to economic policy. He will reflect on the relationship between academic thinking and policymaking, as well as the importance of lifelong and part-time education in opening opportunities to people at different stages of their lives.
Open to alumni, fellows, students, staff and friends of Birkbeck, the event offers an opportunity to hear first-hand reflections from one of the UK’s most prominent political leaders and explore the ideas and experiences that have shaped his career in public life.
The conversation will be followed by an audience Q&A.
Contact name: External Relations Events
Speakers-
The Rt Hon Sir Edward Davey MP
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The Rt Hon Sir Edward Davey MP was Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from February 2012 to May 2015. He was elected Liberal Democrat MP for Kingston and Surbiton on 1 May 1997.
Sir Edward was educated at Nottingham High School and Jesus College, Oxford, where he studied politics, philosophy and economics. He gained an MSc in economics from Birkbeck College, London University.
He served in the Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet in a number of posts including Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2001 to 2002, Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills from 2005 to 2006, and Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs between 2007 and 2010.
He was then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs at the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills from May 2010 to February 2012.
After graduating, Sir Edward worked as an economics researcher for the Liberal Democrats in Parliament before joining Omega Partners, where he specialised in consultancy in the postal services sector.
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