The Wrong Side of History: In Conversation with Ed West

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The Wrong Side of History: In Conversation with Ed West

2nd March 2022 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Since 1945, the West has undergone a cultural shift comparable to the rise of Christianity or the Protestant Reformation. To a casual observer, the British Conservative party holding office for 32 of the last 50 years does not look like an organisation in crisis. At the same time, author and journalist Ed West believes they’ve lost almost every single political argument they’ve engaged in, watching as society drifts further and further to the left. Despite these nominal electoral successes, West contends that with conservatives unwilling or unable to engage in the cultural battlefield there are now very few important areas of British society where progressives do not have total dominance.

To explain his thesis of why the Right keeps losing, how to interpret the modern world, how it resembles a second Reformation, and above all why we’re doomed to a long, painful, and above-all boring period of political conflict, The Henry Jackson Society is delighted to present an evening in conversation with the surprisingly cheerful Ed West.

 

 

Ed West is a journalist and author of Tory Boy: Memoirs of the Last Conservative, The Diversity Illusion, and the Substack Wrong Side of History. He was previously deputy editor of UnHerd, deputy editor of The Catholic Herald, and a regular writer for The Daily Telegraph and the Spectator.

 

 

Sam Ashworth-Hayes is the Director of Studies at the Henry Jackson Society. Prior to joining HJS, Sam co-founded a startup using satellite imagery to support the installation of urban green infrastructure, raised funding and built a team to develop prototype products and deliver the first commercial trials. He has also previously worked designing field and lab experiments in behavioural economics, and as a journalist and researcher. Outside of academia Sam writes regularly for outlets including The Spectator, CapX, and National Review on economics and politics, and has made media appearances for the BBC, GB News, and Times Radio. He holds an MPhil in Economics from the University of Oxford, and a Bachelors in the same from the University of York.

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EVENT SUMMARY

 

On the 2nd March 2022, Sam Ashworth-Hayes, the Director of Studies at the Henry Jackson Society and Ed West discussed the huge cultural changes. Beginning in the 1960s, subsequently leading to the cultural war, which the conservatives are losing and have had to fall back on economic issues to win electoral success.

Sam Ashworth-Hayes begins the discussion around gay marriage to illustrate how far we’ve come in a very short period. To the casual observer, Ed argues that despite the British Conservative Party holding office for 32 of the last 50 years, it is an organisation in crisis. Despite this, Ed West believes they’ve lost almost every single social-political argument they’ve engaged in whilst watching society drifts further and further to the left.

Despite the recent electoral victories in recent years, West contends that conservatives are unwilling and unable to engage in the cultural battlement. There are now very few important areas of British society where the left does not have total dominance. These areas include all levels of education, social care and NGOs.

The Q&A then discusses whether the conservatives can fight back under a figurehead or has the battle has long since been lost.

 

 

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Details

Date:
2nd March 2022
Time:
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Website:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AwXZDPfBShevx0HtIWI3Dw

Venue

Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, England, SW1P 4QP
21-24 Millbank
Westminster, SW1P 4QP United Kingdom
+ Google Map

Other

SPEAKER
Ed West, Sam Ashworth-Hayes

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