HabsTalks welcomes Sir David Lidington (OH 1974)

As part of our HabsTalks programme, the School was delighted to welcome Sir David Lidington (OH Meadows 1974), to speak via Zoom about the United Kingdom in a Changing World. 

Sir David Lidington is currently Chairman of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI), the oldest defence and security think tank in the world. From 1992 to 2019 he was Member of Parliament for Aylesbury, serving on his party’s Front Bench for most of his time in Parliament. Throughout the government of Theresa May, he served in Cabinet as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council, then Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, and from 2018 to 2019 he served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister of the Cabinet Office, chairing nine Cabinet committees and acting as deputy to Prime Minister Theresa May. Between 2010 and 2016, during the Government of David Cameron, he served in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as Minister of State for Europe and was the longest serving occupant of that position. He represented the United Kingdom at the EU, NATO, the Council of Europe, OSCE and the UN Security Council.

During his talk, Sir David outlined the challenges and opportunities that the United Kingdom now faces in a rapidly changing global environment, facing the re-emergence of China as a global power and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, outside the formal organisation of the EU and with the increasing threat of climate disaster. He argued that the United Kingdom could a great influence for good in the world through its soft power, its connections, its diplomacy, its universities and research organisation and its example to the world of a nation strongly committed to democracy and the rule of law.

There were a large number of questions after the talk looking at whether the United Kingdom could survive as a single political entity, whether and how the United Kingdom should invest more in its armed forces, how Metro mayors are enhanced local governance, how to protect UK democracy from the possible invention of hostile states as well as whether Sir David had any advice for young people thinking about a career in politics. His advice for young people was definitely to get involved their local parties and if they enjoyed that to “go for it” in terms of politics as career, but to always be aware of the possibility of failure and the importance of a hinterland beyond the Westminster Bubble.

We are extremely generous to Sir David Lidington for offering so generously of his time and for speaking to our school community. Our HabsTalks programme continues this week with talks from Lord Dubs and John Vincent.