TIMINGS
Doors: 11:30
Starts: 11:50
Seated (unreserved)
Tickets: £16
Plus £2 venue levy
Age: 14+, under 16s must be accompanied by an adult
Presented by Brighton & Hove Speakers Festival
Click here to view all Brighton & Hove Speakers Festival events
Why does so little seem to work in Britain anymore — GP appointments, policing, rivers, wages, housing? Sam Freedman, former senior adviser to Michael Gove and now one of the UK's most trusted political analysts, argues the answer lies not with individual politicians but with broken state institutions themselves.
Drawing on his bestselling book Failed State, praised for its persuasive clarity and wit, Freedman examines the culture of short-termism, chaos and constant ministerial churn that has hollowed out Whitehall over decades. With forensic insight from inside government, he traces how partisan tribalism and institutional neglect have left Britain in disarray — but this is not a talk of despair. Freedman also sets out a path toward renewal, built on professionalism, accountability and long-term thinking, and argues that public trust and capacity can be rebuilt if the right lessons are learned.
As a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government and a Financial Times columnist, Freedman combines insider experience with sharp, accessible analysis of how politics really functions. This is a gripping, clear-eyed diagnosis of what's gone wrong — and a genuinely constructive case for how it could be put right. A Q&A session follows.