2011 - Keele University
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Politics, International Relations & Philosophy

Visiting Speaker - The Historian as MP

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Tristram Hunt

Posted on 11 March 2011

Tristram Hunt, MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, visited Keele last Friday (04.03.11) to speak about his recent transition from being an academic at London University (and frequent contributor to newspapers and television) to serving as one of our local representatives.

Taking as his title 'The Historian as MP', Tristram began by talking about the weight of the past in Parliament and how tradition might be transcended in order to serve contemporary needs. He went on to criticise the coalition government which, he argued, was pursuing too many ill-conceived policies with undue haste; the last time the Liberals had played a political role of this sort they had subsequently spent decades in the wilderness.

The large audience, with some students present alongside numerous staff, then had the opportunity to put questions, which ranged from the uses of History, to the 'Big Society' and the future of the Potteries. Above all, Tristram Hunt pledged his support to maintaining a high profile for the humanities and social sciences, not only in the universities but also in society as a whole.

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