Events

Join us for our next Ludgate Lecture with the former Deputy Leader of the National Party for New Zealand, Nikki Kaye.

We are delighted to invite you to join the next of our Ludgate Lectures, a series where we hear from prominent thinkers and decision makers on the biggest issues of our time.

For this event, we will be hosting Nikki Kaye, former Deputy Leader of the National Party of New Zealand. She has also previously been Minister of Education, Minister for Youth and Minister of Civil Defence.

She will speak to the Chief Executive of Bright Blue, Ryan Shorthouse, about her time in government and the centre-right in New Zealand and internationally. She will also answer questions from attendees.

Date:

Wednesday 28th June 2023, 10:30 – 11:30

Location:

On our YouTube channel here.

RSVP:

This event is free and open to all, but you can register for updates and reminders via Eventbrite.

Contact Max Anderson at max@brightblue.org.uk if you have any queries.

You are invited to Bright Blue and Citizens UK’s next drinks reception to discuss ‘Boosting Britain’s workforce‘.

Speaking at the event will be the Minister for Employment, Guy Opperman MP and the former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Rt Hon Stephen Crabb MP. We will also be joined by other MPs, civil servants, special advisers, journalists, business representatives, civil society representatives, opinion formers and academics.

The event will discuss the state of the UK’s current labour market and how the Government can best tackle economic inactivity to fulfil the PM’s pledges, especially considering the potential of – and policies for – parental, older age and migrant employment.

Monday 19th June, 18:30 – 21:00.

Location:

Location:

The event will be held in Westminster. Attendees will be sent the exact location closer to the time.

RSVP:

This event is free and open to all, but you must pre-register through Eventbrite here.

If you have any questions about the event please contact Max Anderson, Senior Communications Manager, on max@brightblue.org.uk.

In partnership with:

For our next Regional Drink Tank in Edinburgh, we welcome Douglas Ross MP MSP.

He will be talking about ‘Upskilling Scotland’ as well as big issues in Scottish and UK Politics and will take part in a Q&A with attendees.

Douglas is the Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party. He has also been a Member of Parliament for Moray since 2021 and a Member of the Scottish Parliament for Highlands and Islands since 2021.

Date:

Wednesday 24th May 2023, 18:30 – 20:00.

The event:

Guests will be invited to join us from 18:30 onwards. Douglas will begin speaking at 19:00 before taking questions from the audience. Attendees will then be invited to stay longer and socialise if they wish.

Location:

The event will be held in Edinburgh. Attendees will be sent the exact location closer to the time.

RSVP:

This event is free and open to all, but you need to sign up via Eventbrite here.

For our next Drink Tank we welcome the Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP.

He will be talking about ‘How can the Tories appeal to young people’.

Matt Hanock MP is the former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and former Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. He has also been the Member of Parliament for West Suffolk since 2010.

Date:

Wednesday 17th May 2023, 18:30 – 20:00.

The event:

Guests will be invited to join us from 18:30 onwards. Matt will begin speaking at 19:00 before taking questions from the audience. Attendees will then be invited to stay longer and socialise if they wish.

Location:

The event will be held in a Central Westminster Location. Attendees will be sent the exact location closer to the time.

RSVP:

This event is free and open to all, but you need to sign up via Eventbrite here.

You are invited to attend the launch of Bright Blue’s essay collection, entitled ‘Home advantage: a new centre-right vision for housing‘. The collection offers a glimmer of hope by presenting radical new ideas from leading decision makers and thought leaders in four key areas: security, community, stewardship and conservation.

The hope is that this becomes a first step to a clear centre-right vision for providing Britain with the homes it needs.

Speakers:

• David Simmonds CBE MP, Chair, APPG on Housing and Planning
• Nicholas Boys Smith, Founding Director, Create Streets
• Toby Lloyd, Former Chair, No Place Left Behind Commission
• Freddie Poser, Director, Priced Out UK
• Bartek Staniszewski, Researcher, Bright Blue
• Polly Neate CBE, Associate Director, Shelter
• Geraldine Scott, Political Reporter, The Times (Chair)

Wednesday 17th May 2023, 14:00-15:30

Location:

Palmer Room, One Great George Street, London, SW1P 3AA

RSVP:

This event is free and open to all, but you must pre-register through Eventbrite here.

If you have any questions about the event please contact Max Anderson, Communications Manager, on max@brightblue.org.uk.

In partnership with:

Our next members’ meet-up will be with Ryan Shorthouse on Thursday 13th April 2023.

Ryan Shorthouse is Chief Executive of Bright Blue and will become Chair of Bright Blue in Summer 2023. He will be talking about ‘The future of Bright Blue’.

Join Bright Blue and British Future for this Westminster event on ‘An agenda for action on race equality’.

Political debate on race in the UK today is stuck and increasingly polarised – when it should be building support for ambitious and actionable policies that could meaningfully tackle racism and racial inequality. While there has been progress on racial equality in Britain in recent decades, there is still an unacceptable gap in the life chances and everyday experiences of people from different ethnic minority backgrounds.

Last year, both think tanks published a collection of essays from leading decision-makers and opinion formers across the private, public and third sectors proposing constructive approaches to address racial disparities in modern Britain. The essays focussed on three key areas: opportunities, justice, and belonging. A short informal panel of contributors will discuss what the action should be and why.

We see the collection and this event as the next step to developing a broad cross-ethnic and cross-party agenda for change to address racial inequality in our society. This event will be a chance moment to bring networks and policymakers together to discuss how to prioritise action for 2023 and beyond.

Date:

Thursday 23rd February 2023, 15:00-17:00.

Location:

The details of the venue will be provided upon confirmation of your place.

RSVP:

This event is free and open to all, but pre-registration through Eventbrite is required. Please RSVP here.

If you have any questions about the event please contact Max Anderson, our Communications Manager, max@brightblue.org.uk.

In partnership with:

You are invited to attend the launch of Bright Blue’s final and major report from our multi-year project on the future of social security, entitled ‘Building up: The future of social security‘. This final report examines the adequacy, accessibility and fairness of the social security system for working-aged adults before, during and at the end of the pandemic, before offering three new policies to strengthen social security in this country.

Our project on the future of social security has published a series of analysis pieces over the past two years and has been steered by a high-profile, cross-party, cross-sector commission.

Speakers:

• Shaun Bailey MP, Member of the Work and Pensions Committee
• Baroness Ruth Lister, Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at Loughborough University
• Deven Ghelani, Director and Founder of Policy In Practice
• Anvar Sarygulov, Deputy Head of Policy & Content, Public Policy Projects, Author, Building up: The future of social security and former Head of Research at Bright Blue
• Chris Smyth, Whitehall Editor, The Times (Chair)

Monday 6th February 2023, 16:00-17:15.

Location:

Wilson Room, Portcullis House, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.

RSVP:

This event is free and open to all, but you must pre-register through Eventbrite here.

If you have any questions about the event please contact Max Jablonowski, our Events and Communications Officer, max.j@brightblue.org.uk.

In partnership with:

For our Winter Drink Tank, we welcome The Rt Hon David Davis.

He will be talking about ‘Fixing the asylum system’ and will take part in a Q&A with attendees.

David was first elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Haltemprice and Howden in 1987. He was previously Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union under Prime Minister Theresa May.

Date:

Monday 16th January 2023, 18:30 – 20:00.

The event:

Guests will be invited to join us from 18:30 onwards. David will begin speaking at 19:00 before taking questions from the audience. Attendees will then be invited to stay longer and socialise if they wish.

Location:

The event will be held in Central London, SW1P. Attendees will be sent the exact location closer to the time.

RSVP:

This event is free and open to all, but you need to sign up via Eventbrite here.