CLARE POLITICS

NORMAN BAKER

8.45pm | Latimer Room

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The Rt Hon. Norman Baker is a Liberal Democrat politician. Before being made Minister of State at the Home Office in October 2013 (a position from which he resigned over disagreements with the then Home Secretary, Theresa May), he had a long a distinguished career in Parliament. He was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport between 2010 and 2013, and previously sat on the Joint Committee on Human Rights (2001-5) and as Shadow Environment Secretary (2002-6). Now he has left Parliament, he plays professionally in his re-formed band, The Reform Club. 

He will be speaking on his experiences as a politician, including working with Theresa May in the Home Office.

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A link to the Facebook event can be found here

MATTHEW PARRIS

8.45pm | Domus Room

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Matthew Parris is one of the most widely respected political commentators in Britain today. A student at Clare and a Mellon Fellow at Yale, his varied career includes working for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as Margaret Thatcher’s correspondence secretary and as a Conservative MP. Now a full-time journalist and broadcaster, he is a columnist for The Times and regularly contributes to The Spectator as well as working in radio and television. He has published many books on travel and politics and his autobiography ‘Chance Witness’ won the 2004 Orwell Prize, Britain’s pre-eminent award for political writing. Most importantly, he is also the Honorary Patron of Clare Politics. 

The title of his talk is yet to be confirmed. 

DAVID AARONOVITCH

8.45pm | Elton Bowring Room 

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David Aaronovitch is an eminent journalist, broadcaster and author. After beginning his career as a producer at ITV and an editor the BBC, he moved into print journalism in 1995 at The Independent and Independent on Sunday. He began contributing to The Guardian and The Observer in 2003 before starting his regular column in The Times which he has written ever since. He regularly appears on radio and television, including as the presenter of the 2007 BBC documentary The Blair Years. In 2013, he succeeded David Dimbleby as the Chairman of the human rights organisation Index on Censorship. He won the Orwell Prize for political journalism in 2001 and was named 'Columnist of the Year' by "What the Papers Say" in 2003. 

BEN GUMMER

8.45pm | Location TBC 

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The Rt Hon. Ben Gummer MP is currently Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, and he was previously a junior minister in the Department of Health and the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Education. Before entering parliament in 2010 he was the Managing Director of an environmental consultancy company. He is also a noted historian, having taken a starred double first in History from Peterhouse and published a well received book on the Black Death. 

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Ben's historical background and impressive political experience make him very well placed to provide a talk entitled 'Government at your service: the relationship between the citizen and the state'. 

ANNA SOUBRY

9.30pm | Latimer Room 

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The Rt Hon. Anna Soubry MP is a Conservative politician, who was Minister for Small Business from the 2015 general election to July 2016. Before that she held junior ministerial positions at the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Health. She has been outspoken on a number of issues, from NHS reform, to Nigel Farage and, most recently, Brexit, which she vehemently opposed. Before entering parliament she worked in broadcast media and as a lawyer.  

THE PREVENT STRATEGY

We will be running a panel event, in conjunction with the university's Amnesty International Society, on the government's Prevent Strategy. The exact title of the event, as well as the speakers, will be confirmed soon.