28/11/2024
The York Student Think Tank in collaboration with the presents “Disillusion and Disinterest: what to do about political engagement”, delivered by Michael Meadowcroft! 🔎💡
WHEN? : 6pm - 4th December ❄️
Where? : D/N/56 ‼️
Tickets? : FREE! Get them on the YorkSu website by scanning the QR code or accessing the link in our LINKTREE (link in bio) 🧐
At a time when democratic backsliding seems to grow worse, people’s trust in the very system is as unreliable as ever. Michael Meadowcroft will consider how people can be drawn into politics, and how we can preserve the integrity of the system.
Michael is a life-long liberal. He joined the Liberal Party in 1962, holding several administrative posts within the party, before winning the Parliamentary seat of Leeds West in 1983, primarily through engaging in community politics. After losing re-election in 1987, he founded the “Continued” Liberal Party in protest against the merger with the SDP. Later, reconciled with the Liberal Democrats due to their opposition to identity cards and the Iraq War, and their pro-Europeanism, he rejoined the party in 2007.
- Michael also has an extensive career outside party politics. A staunch democrat, he was given the title of “Distinguished Visiting Fellow” by the Policy Studies Institute in 1989. From 1990, he became the Chair of the Electoral Reform Society and was in much demand as a public policy consultant for emerging democracies as a result of the implosion of the Soviet Union. He has been involved in fifty missions to thirty-five different countries, mainly across Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia, usually sponsored by the EU, UN, or OSCE.
- Michael is also a prolific writer and journalist. He is in particular demand as an obituarist for the Guardian and has also been a columnist in The Times and the Yorkshire Post. He’s written many pamphlets and books, too; a couple of relevant ones are listed below, alongside his website.