Are British politics in turmoil?

On Tuesday 19 November, the Financial Times journalist and Jesus Alumna, Miranda Green, came to the Intellectual Forum to talk about her work in the current UK political landscape.

Green shared some of her cutting-edge political data with the audience regarding where voters currently stand and the 'Brexit divide'. She then described 'the Remainers' dilemma', and fielded a number of difficult questions from the audience about Britain's political climate and the media. 

After the event, she said: "Exploring the fractured and sometimes foggy landscape of our current British political scene with such an engaged and welcoming audience at Jesus has been really positive - the questions were of course completely to the point and it was great to share some of the data analysis that I've been working on with FT colleagues on the patterns of voter choices and where the parties' supporters see themselves. I discovered a lot of fellow enthusiasts for data visualisation among the academic community. I even managed to reach back into the terminology of my English degree at one point to answer a question on Brexit."

Green, who studied English at Jesus College under Professor Stephen Heath and Dr Rod Mengham, is currently Deputy Opinion Editor and a regular columnist. She has also worked on UK and world news and was the education and political reporter. She appears regularly on the BBC talking about UK politics and helped found The Day to assist schools teaching current affairs to teenagers, and worked for the Liberal Democrat party in the House of Commons from 1995 to 2000, including as Paddy Ashdown's spokesperson. Miranda was named Culture, Diary and Social Commentator of the Year in the 2018 Comment Awards.