Events

The ESU Dartmouth House is holding a series of City lunches in Spring 2010 with guest speakers from the three main political parties.  The lunch will be held under the Dartmouth House Rule, which follows Chatham House.  You will be invited to submit a question to be put to our guest during the lunch.

12.30pm

Ticket price:   £60 ESU members/£80 non-ESU members. There are a limited number of places for these intimate lunches.

Andrew Mitchell MP is Member of Parliament for Sutton Coldfield and Shadow Secretary of State for International Development as well as the Shadow Cabinet Member with responsibility for Birmingham.

Andrew is 53, married with two daughters. He was educated at Rugby School and Cambridge University, where he studied history and was elected as President of the Cambridge Union in 1978.  Andrew served in the Army (Royal Tank Regiment) before joining Lazard where he worked with British companies seeking large-scale overseas contracts.  

He was the Member of Parliament for Gedling from 1987 to 1997.  During this period he held office as a Government Whip and as Minister for Social Security. He also served as a Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1992 to 1993. 

In 2001 he was re-elected to Parliament as MP for Sutton Coldfield. In November 2003, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Economic Affairs. From September 2004 until the end of the Parliamentary term, he was Shadow Minister for Home Affairs.  Following the General Election in May 2005 Andrew joined the Shadow Cabinet and was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.  An experienced and highly effective MP and former Government Minister, Andrew is committed to serving the people of Sutton Coldfield. 

Andrew is currently campaigning on a number of important local issues in Sutton Coldfield including issues affecting our local environment and the general well-being of the Sutton Coldfield community. He is very active in addressing issues of local development where he feels they adversely affect the Town.  He actively supports a number of local charities including Breastfriends, Norman Laud Association, Sutton Coldfield Branch of the RNLI, Parkinson’s Disease Society, Sutton Coldfield Sea Cadets, Greenacres, and Sutton Coldfield Guiding.

Since becoming Sutton Coldfield’s MP he is particularly pleased to have achieved the reinstatement of the Sutton Coldfield Civic Service and established the Sutton Coldfield Inter-Schools Debating Competition.

As Sutton Coldfield’s MP, Andrew deals with in excess of 5,000 letters a year from constituents.  He has a dedicated staff of 5 people to assist him with this work. The issues raised are wide ranging and can fall within the responsibility of Government Departments or Birmingham City Council as well as a number of the agencies that now administer specific matters such as immigration, benefits and the environment.  In addition he holds regular Advice Sessions where constituents can see him to discuss political issues or matters of personal concern.

Andrew has a home in Sutton Coldfield and spends as much time as possible regularly visiting local schools, businesses and voluntary organisations.

Interviews for prospective SSE scholars leaving in September 2010 will be held in early March. Exact date TBC.

London Australs is a 3 person-a-team University debating tournament that is being held in proud association with the ESU.

www.londonaustrals.com

Price £20 per person

SOAS University - times to be annouced closer to the event

Rosemary Hill will speak on her acclaimed book God's Architect: Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain.

God’s Architect is the first full modern biography of this extraordinary figure. It draws on thousands of unpublished letters and drawings to recreate his life and work as architect, propagandist and romantic artist as well as the turbulent story of his three marriages, the bitterness of his last years and his sudden death at 40. It is the debut of a remarkable historian and biographer.
Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

7pm, Dartmouth House
Tickets: £8 to include a glass of wine

Coffee morning at Dartmouth House for members and their friends.

Interviews for the Lindemann scholarship for 2010 will be held on 20 April at Dartmouth House.

Literary Luncheon with Sir Ian Blair, Former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, who will present his book 'Policing Controversy'.

Sir Ian Blair, former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, tells his story for the first time since Boris Johnson, newly elected Mayor of London, forced his resignation in 2008. The Commissioner's job is a difficult one. Britain's most senior police officer is answerable to three bosses- the Home Secretary, the Mayor of London and the
Metropolitan Police Authority.

He has to tread a skilful line in keeping the public and the media on side, as well as the politicians- an almost impossible task. And, most of all, he must lead a force of 53,000 police officers and other staff, and manage a £3bn annual budget, in the battle to keep crime under control and terrorism at bay. Ian Blair came to his final job in policing with a reputation as a liberal and a deep thinker on policing. But nothing prepared him for the shocking events and the confrontations he had to deal with during his time as Commissioner. This book sets the record straight, highlights his worries about the increasing politicisation of the police service and outlines what he believes needs to be changed and what needs to be preserved in the way policing works and is held accountable.

(Ian Blair, Policing Controversy Profile Books, 2009)

12.00 for 12.30pm, Darmouth House
Tickets: £30 to include a two course lunch with wine, tea and coffee
Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing

The national final of the public speaking competition will be hosted at Lincoln's Inn, WC1. More details to follow.

Join internationally-renowned clarinettist Michael Collins for an evening of music and conversation at Dartmouth House. A former recipient of an ESU scholarship, Michael’s career as a soloist has taken him all over the world and his recent appointment as Principal Conductor of the City of London Sinfonia is an exciting new angle in his career. Michael will play a selection of works for clarinet and piano and talk about his life and career.
Tickets: £30 to include wine and nibbles