A lecture and panel on Richard Haldane (1856-1928), the statesman who modernised Britain's army, welfare state and intelligence services.

Few British statesmen who did not rise to the rank of Prime Minister achieved more than Richard Haldane (1856-1928). An intellectual and a philosopher who was once offered a University chair, he was also an effective administrator and a reformer, who played a key role in modernising the British state at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Haldane’s achievements included the reform of university education, the medical service, constitutional and law reform, the creation of the military machine which took on the German army in France in 1914-18, and the establishment of MI5 and MI6. A Fellow of both the British Academy and the Royal Society, he was elected as Lord Rector of the University of Edinburgh in 1905 and served in both the pre-war Liberal governments and in the first Labour government in 1924, as Lord Chancellor. Yet he remains little known.

The lecture by Sir Peter Riddell, titled ‘What would Haldane make of how the UK is governed today?’, and the subsequent panel discussion hosted by Sidney Sussex College, the Cambridge History Faculty and the Centre for Geopolitics at Cambridge, brings together academics, public intellectuals and statesmen to discuss some of his achievements and legacy for twenty-first-century Britain.

We kindly invite you to a drinks reception following this event.

About the speaker:

The Rt Hon Sir Peter Riddell CBE is a graduate of Sidney Sussex College, where he read History and Economics. He worked as a journalist for 40 years, split between the Financial Times and The Times. Sir Peter chaired the Hansard Society (2007-12), and was a Member of the Privy Counsellor Inquiry into UK official complicity in mistreatment and rendition of detainees. He served as Director of the Institute for Government (2012-16), and Public Appointments Commissioner (2016-21). Since 2022, he has been Honorary Professor in the Constitution Unit at UCL. Sir Peter is the author of eight books on UK politics.

Panellists:

Sir Laurie Bristow KCMG served as Ambassador for the United Kingdom three times. He was the last ambassador to Afghanistan at the time of the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. He was the UK’s Ambassador to Russia from 2016 to 2020, and to Azerbaijan from 2004 to 2007. His other senior roles at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office included Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia and Director for National Security. Sir Laurie has been the President of Hughes Hall, Cambridge since 2022 and chairs the Baltic Advisory Board at Centre for Geopolitics.

Doug Chalmers CB DSO OBE has been the Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge since October 2021. He came to the College from Whitehall where, as a Lieutenant General, he had been the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Military Strategy and Operations) for the Ministry of Defence, an appointment that completed a period of Army service that began in 1984 when he enlisted as a private soldier in the infantry. Over those years he witnessed the end of the Cold War, the breakup of Yugoslavia, a UN mission in Cambodia, 9/11 and its aftermath, the rise and fall of ISIS, and a pandemic. In addition to serving as Master of Emmanuel College, he chairs the University of Cambridge Centre for Geopolitics Management Board and the Faculty Board of Cambridge Judge Business School. He also chairs the Ethics & Integrity Commission and serves on the Advisory Board of the Institute for East-West Strategic Studies.

Suzanne Raine MBE is Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge. She served in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1995-2019, including postings in Poland, Iraq (2003) and Pakistan (2006-9). She worked primarily on national security issues and specialised in counter-terrorism, holding a number of senior domestic appointments including Head of the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre from 2015-2017. She is also a Trustee of the Royal United Services Institute and an Independent Non-Executive at EY.

Panel chair:

Prof Brendan Simms is Professor of the History of European International Relations at the University of Cambridge and the Director of the Centre for Geopolitics. He is the author of eight previous books, including Hitler’s American Gamble, Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy, and most recently The Return of the Great Powers.

Photo credit: unknown author (1913), Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Haldane_a_West_Point.jpg)

Description supplied by the event organiser.