United Kingdom after the General Election of 2010 Workshop

The British Socio-Political Studies Research Group BRITANNIA,
The Chair of European Studies and The Institute of Political Science,
University of Warsaw
May 31, 2010
Tyszkiewiczów-Potockich Palace, Central Campus of the University of Warsaw

The workshop entitled United Kingdom after the General Election of 2010: New Opening in Domestic and Foreign Policies, took place on May 31, 2010 at the Tyszkiewiczów-Potockich Palace at the Central Campus of the Warsaw University and was organised on the initiative of the British Socio-Political Studies Research Group BRITANNIA. The workshop was held in Polish.

Workshop begun with a short introductory word by Professors Franciszek Gołembski, Chairperson of the BRITANNIA Group. Subsequently Dr Przemysław Biskup presented the ideas underlying creation of the Group and its agenda for the following months. The introductory part of the workshop was concluded by the short introduction to the problems connected with the General Election of 2010, the campaign, and the creation of the first after the Second World War coalition government of the Conservatives and Liberal-Democrats.

Subsequently the discussion with active participation of the public was opened. The proceedings took form of short speeches given by a number of participants and subsequently commented on and complemented by other participants. There were four key issues addressed during debate, namely: (1) present and potential key policy areas in UK’s domestic policy, (2) constitutional reforms, (3) working of the Coalition Government and the challenges resulting therewith, as well as (4) potential changes to be introduced into UK’s Foreign and European Policies. The following persons presented their views on the aforementioned subjects: Dr Grzegorz Ronek of the Catholic University of Lublin; Mr. Marek Rybarczyk of the “Newsweek Polska” (former correspondent in the United Kingdom and BBC journalist); Professor Agnieszka Rorthert and Dr Sławomir Józefowicz of the Institute of Political Science, University of Warsaw; Mrs. Jowanka Jakubek L.L.M. of the Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Warsaw; as well as members of the BRITANNIA Group: Dr Krzysztof Jaźwiński of the Institute of International Relations, University of Warsaw; Dr Krzysztof Winkler; and Mr. Adam Dąbrowski M.A. of the Institute of Political Science. Mr. Marek Garlicki, student of the European Studies at the Faculty of Journalism and Political Science also contributed on the subject of UK-EU relations.

The workshop was intended by the organisers as an occasion for a discussion on the most recent political developments in British politics as the news were breaking, namely the campaign and General Election results up to the first Queen’s Speech prepared by the new Coalition Government. Concluding the debate, Professor Gołembski thanked the participants for their contributions and invited for future events organized by the BRITANNIA Group. He also informed of the possibility of further discussion on the aforementioned subjects – with greater degree of balance and distance – offered by the project of the Second National British Studies Conference organized by the BRITANNIA Group on September 15–16, 2010.

Two-hour lively discussion was continued after the closing speech in the lobby.

For more information please see the Workshop Report.