There’s a new working class in Britain that has evolved in the past 30 years, and so far politics have failed to effectively respond to this steadily changing tide. In her book, The New Working Class, Claire Ainsley proposes practical recommendations for political parties to reconnect with the electorate and regain trust.

In a conversation chaired by Anne-Marie Canning, Ainsley will be in discussion with writers Kate Fox and Sabrina Mahfouz, examining issues of class as it intersects with race and social mobility, and answering the questions: what does it mean to be working class today, and how can politics be more representative of this growing group?

About The Speakers

Claire Ainsley

Claire Ainsley is Executive Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and author of ‘The New Working Class: how to win hearts, mind and votes.’ At JRF, she leads the organisation’s strategy to inspire action and change to solve UK poverty. Prior to this, she worked in public affairs and communications in the public and voluntary sectors, and for the UK’s largest trade union.

 

Headshot of author Kate Fox

Kate Fox

Kate Fox is a stand-up poet and has performed everywhere from the Glastonbury Festival to Radio 4. Kate has been a radio journalist, a Victoria Wood tribute act (called Victoria Wouldn’t) and newspaper columnist and does really hold a PHD in Northerness. As well as her poetry and touring, Kate writes and campaigns about neurodiversity. She lives in Whitley Bay and is the author of Where There’s Muck, There’s Bras: The Lost Stories of The Amazing Women of the North, out now from HarperNorth.

About The Host