Fabian Society - the UK’s oldest think-tank - Fabian Fringe at Special Leadership Conference

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The Fabian events programme hosts some of the most prominent public events in British politics. We hold major conferences, lectures and public debates and small invitation only expert policy seminars, including our prestigious Fabian Policy Networks working with a wide range of partner organisations. The events programme can be viewed here , or in our online calendar.

Jemima Olchawski is Events Director, Fatima Hassan, Rosie Clayton and Richard Lane are Events Managers and Ian Chapman is our Events Assistant. Please contact the Events Team with ideas for future Fabian events and to discuss partnership opportunities.

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Fabian Fringe at Special Leadership Conference - Manchester

Sunday, 24th June 2007

Neither the Conservative Party's election strategy nor whether David Cameron, David Davis or William Hague will be the party leader can be predicted with certainty, Ed Balls told a Fabian fringe meeting on the morning of the Labour special leadership conference in Manchester. He suggested that the smooth transistion between Blair and Brown had focussed the public gaze on the Conservative split over grammar schools.

"We don't know whether we will fight a phoney centrist Conservative Party, a Conservative Party of the right, or a Conservative Party of the hard right. And we have to plan on the basis that we might have to fight a David Cameron-led Tory party, a William Hague-led party or a David Davis-led party," said Ed Balls, Chair of the Fabian Society, speaking alongside John Denham MP, Polly Toynbee of The Guardian and Fabian Research Director Tim Horton

The Fabians also held the first fringe meeting under Gordon Brown's leadership as John Healey and Andy Burnham took up the new leader's challenge to open up a new debate about how the party can reach out and reconnect.

The Fabians held these two public fringe events in Manchester to mark the historic moment in British politics:

Winning a Fourth Term (11.00 - 12.00)

Ed Balls led a panel including Polly Toynbee of The Guardian and John Denham to discuss the electoral strategy Labour will need to beat the Tories on equality and life chances.

Campaigning for Change (16.30 - 17.30)

The panel included John Healey MP, Andy Burnham MP, Councillor Mike Amesbury of Manchester City Council and Jessica Studdert, Fabian Society, who debated how the Labour Party must reform to create a progressive society and reconnect people to the political process.