Losing Political Office

The Open University Business School (OUBS) held an exclusive event in London on 16 January to celebrate the launch of Losing Political Office by Dame Jane Roberts, Research Fellow at OUBS, as part of our Public Leadership Perspectives series.

During the event, Dame Jane Roberts explored some of the book’s key insights for politicians as they leave office, and the corresponding implications for democracy. Professor Jean Hartley, Professor of Public Leadership at OUBS chaired the event with Lord David Blunkett, former Home Secretary and Charles Walker, MP for Broxbourne joining as keynote speakers.

For more video highlights, including interviews with all our speakers, please visit YouTube.

The book, Losing Political Office, is based on in-depth interviews conducted with British politicians and analyses the different impacts of leaving political office. Representative democracy depends on politicians exiting office, and yet while there is considerable interest in who stands for and gains office, there is curiously little discussed about this process. Jane Roberts seeks to address this gap.

Losing Political Office is published by Palgrave and is available to buy online.