New Frontiers in UK Politics?
5th February 2017 · 11:00am - 1:00pm
In person | Virtual event
Discussion Event: Jonathan Bartley (Co-Leader, Green Party), Peter Taheri (Secretary/Chair Nominee, Hampstead and Kilburn Labour Party) and Timothy Barnes (Conservative candidate for Bloomsbury Ward 2018).
Recent elections, referenda, polls and political turmoil in the Western world suggest considerable levels of disaffection with the political parties and systems that currently dominate. The “old” politics is out of touch, unaccountable and not delivering on expectations. The clamour for something very different is palpable – a politics that’s more responsive, more transparent, less elitist and more accountable.
The new leadership of the Green Party has called for a “progressive alliance” involving Labour, Greens, Plaid Cymru, the SNP and the Lib Dems to take on the Conservatives in a 2020 election. This requires progressives to put aside their differences and unite behind a common new purpose – but are they up to the challenge?
Or is the way forward in the UK best left to one of the established main parties? Can they adapt and meet the aspirations of our nation in this new era of political turmoil? Come along and hear the views of senior representatives from the political establishment and and have your say in shaping the future of UK politics!
Jonathan Bartley is co-leader of the Green Party with Caroline Lucas MP and the Party’s Work and Pensions Spokesperson. A descendant of Irish farmers on one side and Quaker prison reformer Elizabeth Fry on the other, Jonathan has a passion for social justice and studied Social Policy at London School of Economics. He worked in Parliament on a cross-party basis from 1994-1998 and used that experience in his roles as vice chair of the electoral reform society and vice chair of Yes to Fairer Votes campaign during the 2011 referendum. Married to Lucy and a proud Dad of three children, Jonathan spends whatever free time he has gigging with his band, the Mustangs, and was nominated for Blues Drummer of the Year Award in 2010.
Peter Taheri has been Secretary of Hampstead & Kilburn Constituency Labour Party since Autumn 2015. He has been nominated for election in February as Chair of his Constituency Labour Party. Peter was on Labour’s parliamentary candidate longlist for the Richmond Park by-election. Peter is a barrister of ten years call practising in inquests, police law, and employment law.
Timothy Barnes graduated from UCL and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 2014 he was awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion for life and was listed in the 2015 Sunday Times Maserati 100 of top entrepreneurs that have given back. He founded the globally successful Citrus Saturday, a non-profit enterprise driving entrepreneurial ambition in school-age children that has since run in sixteen countries. Recently he launched a new business that will focus on working with universities and corporates to support their work with startups. He lives in Bloomsbury, is a former GLA candidate and is standing for Conservative Councillor in Camden next year.