Upcoming Events
Drink Tank
With Matthew Taylor
Drink Tank is a chance to meet, network, chat, have a beer and share ideas with Bright Blue on a monthly basis. Bright Blue is proud to welcome Matthew Taylor as our guest speaker for February 2012.
Matthew Taylor became Chief Executive of the RSA in 2006. Prior to this appointment, he was Chief Adviser on Political Strategy to Tony Blair whilst in Downing Street.
Date:
Wednesday 13th February, 2012, 19:00
Venue:
Spying Room, Morpeth Arms, 58 Millbank, London. SW1P 4RW
RSVP:
Please RSVP to brightblueinvites@googlemail.com
Past Events
Drink Tank
With Rafael Behr
Drink Tank is a chance to meet, network, chat, have a beer and share ideas with Bright Blue on a monthly basis. Bright Blue is proud to welcome Rafael Behr as our guest speaker for the new year.
Rafael Behr is the Chief Political Commentator of the New Statesman. Before joining the New Statesman, Rafael worked as the Chief Leader Writer for The Observer, as a business reporter for the BBC and for the Financial Times as a foreign correspondent. Before becoming a journalist, Rafael worked as an emerging markets investment risk analyst.
Date:
Wednesday 25th January, 2012, 19:30-20:30
Venue:
Spying Room, Morpeth Arms, 58 Millbank, London. SW1P 4RW
RSVP:
Please RSVP to brightblueinvites@googlemail.com
Keynote Speech
By The Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP
The Secretary of State for International Development, The Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP, will be delivering a keynote speech to Bright Blue on Monday 12th December 2011 at 7:30pm.
The Secretary of State will be delivering a keynote speech on the Coalition Government's reforms to international development policy.
Date:
Monday 12th December, 2011, 19:30-20:30
Venue:
Committee Room 5, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
RSVP:
Please RSVP to brightblueinvites@googlemail.com
Drink Tank
With Damian Hinds MP
Drink Tank is a chance to meet, network, chat, have a beer and share ideas with Bright Blue on a monthly basis. Bright Blue is proud to welcome Damian Hinds MP as our guest speaker for December 2011.
Damian was elected as the MP for East Hampshire in 2010. He is on the Education Select Committee and is the Chair of the APPG on Social Mobility. He is a former Chairman of the Bow Group and has held senior management positions in the hotel and brewing industries before entering parliament.
Date:
Wednesday 7th December 2011, 19:00
Venue:
Spying Room, Morpeth Arms, 58 Millbank, London. SW1P 4RW
RSVP:
Please RSVP to brightblueinvites@googlemail.com
Drink Tank
With Chris Skidmore MP
Drink Tank is a chance to meet, network, chat, have a beer and share ideas with Bright Blue on a monthly basis. Bright Blue is proud to welcome Chris Skidmore MP as our guest speaker for November 2011.
Chris Skidmore was elected MP for Kingswood in 2010. He is a member of the Health Select Committee. He has worked as the Conservative Party's Education Adviser and is a former Chairman of the Bow Group. He wrote a biography of the Tudor King Edward VI in 2007 and published his second book Death and the Virgin in 2010. He was one of the authors of After the Coalition: a Conservative agenda for Britain.
Date:
Thursday 17th November 2011, 19:00
Venue:
Spying Room, Morpeth Arms, 58 Millbank, London. SW1P 4RW
RSVP:
Please RSVP to brightblueinvites@googlemail.com
Kindly supported by:
Drink Tank
With Andrew Gimson, The Daily Telegraph
Drink Tank is a chance to meet, network, chat, have a beer and share ideas with Bright Blue on a monthly basis. Bright Blue is proud to welcome Andrew Gimson of The Daily Telegraph as our guest speaker for October 2011.
Andrew Gimson writes the parliamentary sketch for the The Daily Telegraph. He has recently published the updated paperback edition of "Boris - The Rise of Boris Johnson", a ground-breaking study of the Mayor of London.
Date:
Thursday 20th October 2011, 19:00
Venue:
Spying Room, Morpeth Arms, Westminster, London. SW1P 4RW
RSVP:
Please RSVP to brightblueinvites@googlemail.com
Conference 2011: An ageing society: fairness and security for all
With Penny Mordaunt MP
The debate will examine how services for older people such as pensions and social care can and should be funded in the future, the response to the Dilnot report and the net effect on social and economic growth from higher numbers of older people. In particular, the event seeks to investigate how older people's views are best represented in government and how we can best sustain and strengthen the services older people rely on, particularly for the most vulnerable.
Speakers:
- Penny Mordaunt MP, Chair of the APPG on Ageing and Older People
- Hannah Fearn, The Guardian
- Mervyn Kohler, Age UK
- Jane Ashcroft, Chief Executive of Anchor
- Alexandra Jezeph, Bright Blue (Chair)
Date:
Tuesday 4th October 2011, 17:30-18:30
Venue:
Exchange 7 of Manchester Central
Refreshments will be available
RSVP:
Please RSVP to brightblueinvites@googlemail.com
Kindly supported by:
Conference Drink Tank 2011
With Nick Boles MP
Drink Tank is a chance to meet, network, chat, have a beer and share ideas with Bright Blue. At the Conservative Party Conference this year Bright Blue is proud to welcome Nick Boles MP as our guest speaker.
At the Conference Drink Tank, we will launch the third edition of our magazine, The Progressive Conservative, with articles from Will Hutton, Ian Birrell, Sir Malcom Rifkind MP and Peter Tatchell.
Nick Boles was elected MP for Grantham and Stamford in 2010. He is PPS to the Schools Minister Nick Gibb and sits on the Select Committee for Political and Constitutional Affairs. He set up Policy Exchange, the influential centre-right think tank and in September 2010 he published his first book "Which Way's Up? The future for coalition Britain and how to get there". He is also a current member of the Bright Blue Advisory Board.
Date:
Monday 3rd October 2011, 21.30 to 23.00
Venue:
Chester Suite, Midland Hotel, Manchester
Refreshments will be available
RSVP:
Please RSVP to brightblueinvites@googlemail.com
Kindly supported by:
How should we defend liberal values abroad?
With Tobias Ellwood MP and Douglas Murray
The western world waits to see what the outcomes of the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East will be. Will these predominantly Muslim countries follow Eastern Europe in the 1980s and embrace liberal democracy, as the American philosopher and theorist Francis Fukuyama once predicted? Opinion is divided on the role the developed world should play in supporting pro-democratic forces in these countries. US, France and the UK have led the way in calling for liberal interventionism, safeguarding civilians from Gadaffi's forces in Libya. Others - such as Germany and Russia - believe interventionism has failed in the past, and is not helpful for Western interests or global stability in the long-term. Should the western world help spread liberal democracy across the world and, if so, how?
Speakers:
Tobias Ellwood MP
PPS to Liam Fox MP, Secretary of State for Defence
Douglas Murray
Associate Director of the Henry Jackson Society
Date:
Tuesday 12th July 2011, 7pm-8pm
Venue:
Wilson Room, Portcullis House, House of Commons, London. SW1A 0AA
Drink Tank
A chance to meet, network, chat, share a beer and ideas about progressive policy and the future of politics with likeminded people. We are very pleased to welcome Stuart Andrew MP as our guest speaker. Stuart was elected as the Member of Parliament for Pudsey in 2010 and sits on the Welsh Affairs Select Committee. Stuart has worked in the voluntary sector as a fundraiser for the British Heart Foundation and Martin House, Yorkshire's hospice for children and young people with life limiting, terminal illnesses.
Date:
Wednesday 22nd June 2011, 18:30
Venue:
Sanctuary House Hotel, 33 Tothill Street, SW1H 9LA.
Drink Tank
A chance to meet, network, chat, share a beer and ideas about progressive policy and the future of politics with likeminded people.
Date:
Thursday 24th March 2011, 19:00
Venue:
The Spying Room, Morpeth Arms, 58 Millbank, London. SW1P 4RW
Happiness and markets
With Rt Hon David Willetts MP and Lord Richard Layard.
The Coalition Government has asked the Office for National Statistics to collect data to track the UK population's general well-being. Can a market-based economy - and the wealth, higher living standards and inequality it brings - lead to greater happiness? Bright Blue brings together two leading thinkers, David Willetts and Lord Layard, to explore whether a market-based economy and market-based reforms to services and institutions can lead to higher general well-being.
Speakers:
Rt Hon David Willetts MP
Minister of State for Universities and Science
Lord Richard Layard
Labour life peer and author of Happiness: lessons from a new science
Date:
Monday 28th February 2011, 7pm-8pm
Venue:
Thatcher Room, Portcullis House, House of Commons, London. SW1A 0AA
Bright Blue Christmas Party 2010
Andrew Tyrie MP
Chair of the Treasury Select Committee
Neil O'Brien
Director of Policy Exchange
Tim Montgomerie
Editor of ConservativeHome
The second edition of The Progressive Conscience will be launched with contributions from the Party Chairman, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the Chairman in Residence of the Centre for Social Justice, Dr Samantha Callan, and the Deputy Director of Policy Exchange, Natalie Evans.
Date:
Monday 13th December, 7pm
Venue:
The Gallery, Adam Street Club, 9 Adam Street, The Strand, London. WC2N 6AA.
Kindly sponsored by Jefferson Communications
How local is localism?
Speakers:
Ian Mulheirn
Director of the Social Market Foundation.
Ann Turley
Deputy Director of the New Local Government Network
Cllr Harry Phibbs
Councillor in Hammersmith & Fulham and journalist.
With the coalition government firmly behind a radical decentralisation of power to local authorities, this panel discussion will explore whether their actions really will empower local communities, and give us more power and control over our lives. As the Coalition reduces ringfencing and provides local authorities with more say over the allocation of resources generally, Government policies in education and health show a bypassing of democratically elected local bodies, providing local groups and practitioners with power over budget streams. Are these two approaches to decentralisation complementary? Is one approach better than another, or does it depend on the policy area?
Date:
Tuesday 30th November 2010, 19:00-21:00
Venue:
Thatcher Room, Portcullis House, House of Commons
Conference 2010 Drink Tank
Join us at our regular Drink Tank, this time on the opening night at conference, for a chance to meet, network, chat, have a beer and share ideas with Bright Blue.
Date:
Sunday 3rd October 2010, 17:00-19:00
Venue:
The Sun on the Hill, 23 Bennetts Hill, Birmingham.
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=406870&Y=286886&A=Y&Z=110
Refreshments available
Sponsored by CityButler
Drink Tank
Bright ideas and original thinking about policy making will be central to the just society this progressive Government is trying to build. Whether you are familiar with politics and the policy-making environment or want to get more engaged, join Bright Blue and friends for our first of many Drink Tank events. A chance to meet, network, chat, share a beer and ideas about progressive policy and the future of politics with likeminded people.
Date:
Thursday 12th August 2010, 18:30
Venue:
Bricklayers Arms, 31 Gresse Street, London, W1T 1QS
An Event on Electoral Reform
With Edward McMillan-Scott MEP, Douglas Carswell MP, Keith Best and Ryan Shorthouse.
The European Parliament Office will host Bright Blue for drinks and speeches in the garden on the subject of electoral reform.
Edward McMillan-Scott MEP, Vice President of the European Union.
Douglas Carswell MP, co-author of The Plan and founder of Direct Democracy.
Keith Best, former MP for Ynys Mon and chairman of Conservative Action for Electoral Reform.
Ryan Shorthouse, Spokesman for Bright Blue.
Date:
Wednesday 21st July 2010, 17.00-19.30
Venue:
The garden of the European Parliament Office, 2 Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1
Who Should Pay for Higher Education?
With John O'Leary, Max Wind-Cowie, and Susan Nash.
Bright Blue present a debate on the future of Higher Education and tuition fees for students.
John O'Leary, Editor of Policy Review Magazine and Former Editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement.
Max Wind-Cowie, Head of The Progressive Conservatism Project at Demos
Susan Nash, Vice-President of the National Union of Students.
Date:
Wednesday 30th June 2010, 7pm
Venue:
Portcullis House, 1 Bridge Street, London SW1A 2JH
Will Robin Hood save the world's poorest?
With Philip Blond, Patrick Nolan, Lord Newby and David Hillman.
Bright Blue, in association with UNICEF, brought speakers from across the political spectrum together to explore Robin Hood Tax proposal. Could this mechanism secure funding for vital international development projects and public services at a time when tax revenues and state spending are falling across the world?
Phillip Blond is the Director of the think tank Respublica, an Anglican theologian and the author of "Red Tory".
Dr Patrick Nolan is the Chief Economist of the think tank Reform.
Lord Newby is the Treasury spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats.
David Hillman is the director of "Stamp out Poverty", and representative of the Robin Hood Tax campaign.
Date:
Tuesday 4th May 2010, 6pm
Venue:
UNICEF UK, 30a Great Sutton Street, London, EC1V 0DU
The Official Launch of Bright Blue
David Willetts MP
David Willetts MP, Shadow Minister for Universities and Skills, also has special responsibility for family policy within David Cameron's Shadow Cabinet. A former Paymaster General, Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills, as well as Work & Pensions and Trade & Industry, he is one of the most respected Conservative thinkers of recent times. David's most recent, and much acclaimed book "The Pinch" (published in February 2010) caused him to be labelled by the Guardian "a one-man thinktank right under David Cameron's nose".
We are grateful to David, who officially launched Bright Blue, and our magazine "The Progressive Conscience", with a well received speech to the room.
Date:
Wednesday 17th March 2010, 7pm
Venue:
14 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden
"What are we educating for?"
A discussion with Dr Anthony Seldon and Toby Young.
All are welcome as we explore the key questions:
What are schools for? What is learning for? And what are we educating for?
Speakers:
Dr Anthony Seldon
Master of Wellington College, Dr Anthony Seldon is a renowned academic and commentator, both on British education and contemporary British politics.
Toby Young
Toby Young is a high profile author, journalist, blogger and commentator, with a particular interest in education and in setting up his own school in West London.
Date:
Monday 15th February 2010, 7pm
Venue:
The British Library Conference Centre.
Does inequality matter?
Venue:
Thatcher Room, Portcullis House, Westminster. January 12th 2010
Speakers Rt Hon Theresa May MP and Polly Toynbee addressed a full house at our first event, "Does inequality matter?"