The University was to delighted to welcome alumnus and Honorary Graduate the Rt Hon Lord Blunkett to deliver the 12th Roberts Lecture on Thursday 12 October 2017 in Firth Hall.

In his lecture, Lord Blunkett examined sources of power in the 21st-century, and explored whether anything has substantially changed over the last half-century.

He discussed what power is, who possesses it and what ingredient in modern democratic society allows for the challenge to such power, including traditional as well as more modern forms of national and international market forces.

Lord Blunkett looked into whether social media and the development of new forms of communication substantially changed the rules of the game and explored where the traditional political process fitted into the equation. The talk concluded by looking in to what lessons can be deduced from recent international as well as domestic political events and how can democratic institutions and processes empower the powerless, in the absence of control over the levers of significant power.