Institute for Government

This event is part of the Institute for Government's Labour Party Conference 2025 fringe programme. Speakers: Alex McIntyre MP, Member of the Health and Social Care Select Committee Kevin McKenna MP, Officer of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Health Professor Nicola Ranger, General Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing Thea Stein, Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust This event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. This event was held in partnership with the Royal College of Nursing.

This event is part of the Institute for Government's Labour Party Conference 2025 fringe programme. Speakers: Lisa Bungeroth, Director of Public Affairs at Imperial College London Thomas Cawston, Corporate Affairs Lead at Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Louise Hellem, Chief Economist at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Pranesh Narayanan, Senior Research Fellow at IPPR Giles Wilkes, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government This event was chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. This event was held in partnership with Imperial College London.

The Liberal Democrat manifesto committed to keeping people out of hospital by investing in public health and early access to community services. Prevention is also central to the government’s plans for improving healthcare. But meaningfully shifting care from treatment to prevention is easier said than done. So how could the UK take a prevention-led approach to healthcare? We discussed at the 2025 Liberal Democrat Party Conference in Bournemouth with an expert panel featuring: ➡️ Andrew George MP, Member of the Health and Social Care Select Committee ➡️ Jules Payne Chief Executive at HEART UK - The Cholesterol Charity ➡️ Rob Thomas, Head of Public Affairs, UK and Ireland at Novartis UK This event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. This event was held in partnership with Novartis UK.

The government’s devolution plans are centred on devolving more powers out of Whitehall into the hands of the local leaders, and giving local places control of key policy areas like skills, transport, and housing. But questions remain about how this will work in practice. At the 2025 Liberal Democrat Party Conference in Bournemouth we explored the key steps that local places need to take to develop an effective economic strategy. Our speakers included: ➡️ Baroness Pinnock, Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson on Housing, Communities and Local Government ➡️ Professor Lisa Collins, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the University of Surrey ➡️ Councillor Lorna Dupre, Deputy Leader of Cambridgeshire County Council ➡️ Rebecca McKee Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government This event was chaired by Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. This event was held in partnership with the University of Surrey.

President Trump’s return to the White House has reshaped the world trade order – posing risks, but also offering opportunities, for the UK. What can be done to make the UK become a more attractive destination for foreign investment? How should the UK deal with the US - and approach its relationship with China? How can the government help UK businesses and will its new industrial and trade strategy help secure the UK’s economic future? We discussed at the Liberal Democrat Conference in Bournemouth with an expert panel, featuring: ➡️ Clive Jones MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Trade ➡️ Helen Bower-Easton CBE, Director of Communications at the Financial Conduct Authority ➡️ Joanna Cound, Global Head of Public Policy at BlackRock UK ➡️ Chris Hayward, Policy Chairman at the City of London Corporation ➡️ Giles Wilkes, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government This event was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government. This event was held in partnership with the City of London Corporation.

How can changes to NHS incentives help deliver the 10 Year Health Plan by Institute for Government

The former deputy prime minister, in his only fringe event at this year’s Liberal Democrat conference, spoke to IfG director Hannah White about Keir Starmer’s Donald Trump strategy, Elon Musk’s interventions in British politics, the AI challenge, and how centre left parties can fight back against the rise of populism.

With European nations now spending more on defence than America for the first time since the Second World War, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin explored how the end of the peace dividend is creating new dilemmas for the political class and what this means for the Whitehall machine. In his first speech since stepping down as head of the armed forces, Admiral Sir Tony, who served four successive prime ministers, reflected on the advent of a third nuclear age, the race to artificial super intelligence and the requirement for grand national strategy to meet the demands of a new more dangerous era. Following his speech, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin was in conversation with Dr Hannah White, Director and CEO of the Institute for Government.

The Freedom of Information Act at 25 by Institute for Government

The industrial strategy has emerged after a long gestation, with June’s white paper containing an exhaustive list of policy commitments intended to deliver Labour’s promise to “lay the foundation for a decade of growth”, create hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs, ensure that every region thrives, and put Britain “at the forefront of the technological revolution”. The strategy identifies 37 different ‘Frontier Industries’ within the eight growth sectors already set out in the green paper from October 2024, with these sectors treated as enablers of productivity to other parts of the economy – not just as vehicles of growth in themselves. So how can this ambitious idea be delivered successfully? What combination of market and regulatory reforms can help to deliver this aim? What will be the role of public sector financial institutions like the National Wealth Fund and British Business Bank? What is the role for private finance? Is the government’s push to encourage more pension fund investment in British industry welcome or risky? And with the industrial strategy containing so many goals, industries and policy instruments, has the government taken on more than it can realistically deliver? To explore these questions and more, we were joined by an expert panel, including: Sam Lister, Director General for Industrial Strategy at the Department for Business and Trade Paul Nightingale, Professor of Strategy at the University of Sussex Karen Northey, Corporate Affairs Director at the Investment Association Giles Wilkes, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government This event was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government. This event was kindly supported by the Investment Association.