英语学院学术论坛系列 (NO. 572)

Forum on British Studies (NO.46)

Politics in the UK Today: Unprecedented Changes in 2015

Speaker: Professor Richard Sanders

University of Northampton, UK

Time: 10:10-12:00 am

Date：30 September, 2015 (Wednesday)

Venue: 英语学院楼311教室

主讲人简介：

Dr Richard Sanders is Emeritus Professor of Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Northampton, UK, teaching and researching on political economy and Asian globalization. He got his PhD degree in 1998 writing a thesis entitled “Prospects for Sustainable Development in the Chinese Countryside: the Political Economy of Chinese Ecological Agriculture”. From 1991 to 1993 Prof. Sanders was employed by the British Council in Beijing to work as a foreign expert and lecturer in economics in the English Department of Beijing Foreign Studies University, contributing a great deal to the founding and the development of the British Studies MA programme here. He has published richly, including one authored book entitled Prospects for Sustainable Development in the Chinese Countryside: the Political Economy of Chinese Ecological Agriculture (Ashgate, 2000) and 2 edited books, one of which is entitled China’s Post-Reform Economy: Achieving Harmony, Sustaining Growth (Routledge, 2007). He has also published numerous articles in academic journals and chapters in edited books and has presented research papers at many conferences throughout the world.

讲座摘要：

The surprise General Election result in May 2015 has led to unprecedented change in the nature and structure of British politics. Not only did the Labour Party lose, but the Liberal-Democrats were almost completely wiped out, while the Scottish National Party took almost total control of the Scottish seats at Westminster. And so a not-very-popular Conservative Party won the election with a majority of seats but with only 37% of the votes cast.

However, the biggest surprise of all has been the subsequent election of Jeremy Corbyn to the leadership of the Labour Party. This event is already causing huge waves in British politics. Who is Jeremy Corbyn? Can he unite the Labour Party and become Prime Minister in 2020 or will the Labour Party collapse in crisis to ensure another Conservative victory in five years time?