A life in Labour Politics: Kim Howells in conversation

Former MP and member of Tony Blair’s Labour cabinet, Dr Kim Howells will be in conversation at Bangor University on Thursday 23 February.

The third annual Professor Duncan Tanner Annual Memorial Seminar and Debate, which starts at 5.30 in Terrace Room 3 at the University’s Main Arts Building, promises an interesting evening of insights from Kim Howells, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Pontypridd, who held a number of ministerial positions within the Blair and Brown governments.

Kim Howells will be in conversation with Professor Andrew Edwards, Labour historian and Dean of Arts & Humanitries at Bangor University.

Professor Edwards said:

“I’m sure we can expect some frank views and fascinating insights from Kim Howells, not just on the Blair governments, but on his involvement in numerous political campaigns. I’m hoping he’ll also have something to say on Brexit and on the current state of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn. It promises to be an interesting conversation.

Duncan would have been delighted to see a room filled with staff, undergraduate and postgraduate students and members of the public. Had he still been with us, I’m sure he would have had his usual robust, and no doubt controversial, opinions on the issues being debated!”

Duncan Tanner was Professor of History at Bangor University and was Director of the University’s Welsh Institute for Social and Cultural Affairs (WISCA). He died suddenly from a heart condition aged 51 in 2010. Born in Newport, south Wales, he went from his local comprehensive to obtain a first-class degree in modern history and politics at Royal Holloway College, University of London (1979), followed by his PhD at University College London (1985). Duncan Tanner joined Bangor University as a lecturer in 1989 and was appointed Professor of modern history in 1995. A leading Labour historian, Duncan Tanner turned his attention towards devolution and was part of a team for a major research project on the history of Welsh devolution at his untimely death.

Publication date: 14 February 2017