Bright Blue TV: Does class still matter?

Join Bright Blue on Friday afternoon for the next episode of Bright Blue TV on the theme: Does class still matter?

It’s Britain’s greatest obsession, perhaps apart from the weather. Class endures as a defining characteristic within society: what school you went to; what job you have; how you like to spend your free time; what supermarket you shop in. It bemuses foreigners, yet it’s difficult to imagine Britain without it. From The Queen to our Old Etonian Prime Minister, some might suggest that the social structure of the country has barely changed over the past two hundred years, yet the post-war period has seen tremendous progress toward greater social mobility, with greater access to elite education and prestigious careers for those from more humble beginnings. Since the 1980s, however, inequality has been an increasing concern, and the Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted those from disadvantaged backgrounds, such as by widening the attainment gap between richer and poorer school pupils, which had previously been in decline. Party politics, once strictly fought along socioeconomic lines, has become more blurred, with cultural attitudes and age becoming greater indicators of voting behaviour. As we strive to recover from Covid-19, and promise to build back better, can we forge what Sir John Major dubbed a ‘classless society’?

This episode of Bright Blue TV is hosted by Communications Officer of Bright Blue, Joseph Silke. He will be joined by Professor of Social Mobility at the University of Exeter, Lee Elliot Major, Lecturer in Politics at the University of Liverpool, Dr David Jeffery, and the Deputy Director of the Social Mobility Commission, Lindsay Turner Trammell.