The IEA Book Club will be hosting an upcoming event with Sir Vernon Bogdanor on his latest book, “Making The Weather: Six Politicians Who Changed Modern Britain”. This event will take place on Thursday 31st October from 17:30 – 19:30 at the IEA Westminster offices. Chairing this event is Tom Clougherty (Executive Director and Ralph Harris Fellow). 

Join us for an insightful event featuring Sir Vernon Bogdanor and his new book, Making The Weather: Six Politicians Who Changed Modern Britain 

Making the Weather is the story of six post-war politicians, all of whom exerted an outsized influence on the political life of the UK: an influence greater than that of most prime ministers. Vernon Bogdanor’s cast includes three from the political Left – Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan, Roy Jenkins, and Tony Benn – and three from the Right – Enoch Powell, Keith Joseph, and Nigel Farage. Each study is a fascinating analysis that examines how these men achieved such prominence and influence and how, though very different figures in many ways, they came to dominate the political landscape, often for a period of years. Each of the six made fundamental contributions to the debate about Britain’s future and to the vibrancy of our democracy. From immigration to Europe, from the NHS to devolution, the issues and causes that brought these men to prominence are still of considerable contemporary relevance. 

SIR VERNON BOGDANOR CBE is Professor of Government, King’s College, London. He was formerly for many years Professor of Government at Oxford University. In 2019 he gave the Stimson lectures at Yale University. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, an Honorary Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences. He has been an adviser to a number of governments, including those of Albania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Israel, Mauritius. Romania, Slovakia, Sweden and Trinidad. 

He has also authored numerous books on British politics and constitutional reform, and is a frequent media contributor. He served as a consultant for the film Darkest Hour and the play The Audience. Knighted in 2023, Bogdanor has also received several prestigious awards, including a CBE and the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, for his contributions to political studies.