We are pleased to announce that the SPERI Annual Lecture for 2024 will be delivered by Lisa Nandy, MP for Wigan. She will deliver a lecture followed by a discussion on on Labour’s plans for government, Britain’s role in the world, and how the politics of place, localism and ‘levelling up’ can transform the way we think about international development.
Elected in 2010, she currently serves as the opposition’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development. Before entering Parliament, Lisa worked for Labour MP Neil Gerrard and as a researcher for the youth homelessness charity, Centrepoint. She went on to work as senior policy adviser for The Children’s Society and served as a Labour councillor in Hammersmith.
During her time in Parliament, Lisa has served on the front bench in a number of roles. She first served as Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, under Keir Starmer’s leadership, then Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Lisa has also served as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and Shadow Minister for Children. She was the Chair of Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East; and co-founder of the think tank Centre for Towns, which was set up to ensure equal attention be given to the viability and prosperity of Britain’s towns.
The lecture is initially open to colleagues within SPERI and the Department of Politics and International Relations, and may be open more widely closer to the date. For more information, please contact speri@sheffield.ac.uk.