The Beveridge Society Lecture was by Douglas Carswell MP on the subject of: ‘The Future of British Politics’. Review by Justin Heng (Year 13):
On 26 November, we welcomed Old Carthusian, Douglas Carswell MP to talk about the future of British politics. He is a former member of the Conservative Party. He changed his political allegiance to UKIP and became the first elected Member of the Parliament for UKIP in 2014, representing Clacton. He has also expressed his views on politics from his books, most notably 'The End Of Politics' and 'The Plan: Twelve Months to Renew Britain'.
In the lecture, Mr Carswell raised the question of whether the changes in our democratic system have brought about a more meaningful democracy. He explained that although it is true that more people are now allowed to vote (for example, since the woman’s right to vote), this has not necessarily lead to an increase in meaningful democracy: more voters do not have an impact on British politics. He also argued that Parliament is essentially run by a cartel. A few people in high office are able to implement their chosen policies by promoting junior MPs in return for their support. He explained that if junior MPs followed the party ideology, as opposed to representing the best interests of the voters, they would keep their seat and eventually get promoted to higher positions. He believes that power should be restored to voters through 'The Right to Recall’ allowing voters the right to sack their MP if they believed an MP had failed to represent them. This would be an incentive to MPs to represent the voters accurately, instead of blindly following ideologies set by the party.
The lecture was truly inspiring and engaging, and it allowed us to reflect on our current political system and consider the future of British politics.