The Right Track: has British Conservatism lost its way? – An Address by The Rt Hon Lord Frost of Allenton CMG

Danube Institute

Lord Frost will address the recent history of the Conservative Party. How and why has the party moved from a position of political dominance in 2019 to seeming electoral doom in 2024? Frost will discuss the government's confused response to Covid, its inability to take back control of the UK's borders, reassert parliamentary sovereignty, make a clean break from Europe, and initiate market and energy reforms that would regenerate the UK economy. He will also consider what might be the future of the British Conservative Party after 2024. The address will be followed by a response from visiting fellow Nathan Levine, a political and international affairs analyst and consultant; David Oldroyd-Bolt, a visiting fellow at the Danube Institute; and István Kiss, the institute's executive director. The debate will be moderated by John O'Sullivan, President of the Danube Institute. Language: English Date: Thursday, March 21, 2024, 5.30 PM Venue: Lónyay-Hatvany Villa - 1. Csónak str., 1015 Budapest (Entrance: Aranybástya Restaurant) David Frost, the Rt Hon Lord Frost of Allenton PC CMG, was Chief Brexit Negotiator and Europe adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson (2019-20) where he led the negotiations which broke the political deadlock over Brexit, finally took the UK out of the EU, and put in place the UK / EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the world’s broadest free trade agreement. He subsequently served as Minister for EU relations during 2021 in the Johnson government, but resigned rather than support a further pandemic lockdown in December 2021. He is now a Conservative peer in the House of Lords in the UK Parliament, and a writer for the Daily Telegraph. He spent most of his career prior to this as a professional UK diplomat and civil servant, serving as British Ambassador in Denmark and as Europe Director in both the Foreign Office and the Department for Business. He served overseas in the mission to the EU in Brussels, the mission to the UN in New York, and in the British embassies in Paris and in Nicosia. Between 2013 and 2016 he was CEO of one of the UK’s biggest trade associations, the Scotch Whisky Association. He was awarded the CMG in 2006 and made a member of the House of Lords in 2020.