New Labour, New Britain? How Did the Blair Governments Change the Country?

Your Panel:

Annaliese Dodds, MP for Oxford East

Glen O'Hara, Professor of History, Oxford Brookes University, author of New Labour, New Britain?

Patrick Diamond, formerly a member of the No. 10 Policy Unit, now a Professor of Public Policy at Queen Mary, University of London

The period from 1997 to 2007 marked a pivotal moment in modern British history, as New Labour sought to reshape Britain into a more cohesive and forward-thinking society. It saw the rise of socially liberal attitudes and stronger public services under a government committed to rebuilding and investing in them. Yet New Labour's track record was far from flawless and its legacy remains complicated and contested. Its period in office ended in financial and economic crisis, the consequences of which we are still living with. The party failed to secure the success of many of its ideas - Europeanisation, increased social cohesion, a more future-facing economy - and some of its work was reversed by the subsequent Coalition and Conservative governments.

This talk and panel discussion will ask: looking back, what can we learn from the Blair governments, and are there any lessons that are still relevant for Keir Starmer today?