When: Thursday, May 9, 2024, 10:00 AM - 12:30 AMWhere: Arts Two, Mile End
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To mark the 30th anniversary of John Smith's death, the Mile End Institute will be welcoming Yvette Cooper MP to give a keynote speech about Smith's legacy, followed by a panel discussion between academics and eyewitnesses.
The night before John Smith QC died in May 1994, he gave a now infamous speech at the Park Lane Hotel to raise money for the Labour Party's campaign for the next general election. To the 500 people in attendance, Smith remarked that 'the opportunity to serve our country—that is all we ask'.
30 years on from his death, Smith is often recalled as one of the 'best Prime Ministers we never had' and is still viewed with affection by many people regardless of their political views. However, in his own party, John Smith's legacy has often been more contentious. For supporters of the 'New Labour' project pursued by his successor, John Smith - as David Miliband told the Mile End Institute in May 2022 - failed to 'understand that in 1992 the electorate told us, in no uncertain terms, that they wanted a different offer from Labour'.
In this event to mark the thirtieth anniversary of his death, the Mile End Institute is delighted to be welcoming a distinguished panel of historians and eyewitnesses to consider John Smith's legacy and lessons for the Labour Party today. The event will begin with a keynote speech by the Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper MP. This will be followed by a panel discussion with David Ward (John Smith's Head of Policy and Adviser from 1988 to 1994), Dr Richard Johnson (Senior Lecturer at QMUL), and Dame Pauline Green (former Chair of the Party of European Socialists). We will be announcing more speakers in due course.
This event will take place in the Mathematical Sciences Building, which is number 4 on this map of Queen Mary's Mile End campus. Its What3Words locator is: ///taped.apply.anyone. Doors will open at 9.30am and we aim to start at 10am sharp.