Sylvan Debating Club

Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • Meeting info
  • Debates
  • History
  • Contact

June 2019 – party politics

On Monday, 3rd June, the Sylvans debated the motion:

This House believes the UK’s party political landscape will never be the same.

The proposer was Magnus Nielsen and the opposer was Tony Koutsoumbos.

The proposer opened with a wide-ranging history of how the UK became involved in the European project (that ultimately became the EU), bringing the audience to today’s developments on Brexit.  He concluded that in that referendum, London opinion did not lead the rest of the country – a marked shift from most other considerations for centuries.  He then briefly critiqued today’s political parties.  The opposer responded with a structured argument on whether ‘Brexit Britain’ will have a lasting impact on the party political landscape, bringing the debate back to the motion at hand.  He argued that the two-party system had survived far bigger crises than Brexit, and that there is no evidence that the existing system would not endure.

The broad motion engendered a series of passionate floor speeches, which ranged from indignation about ‘filthy politics’ in general, to Brexit as a constitutional crisis, to the tendency of democracies to morph into oligopolies over time, to calm perspective on the flow of history and the premature nature of identifying such a shift in politics, to cynicism on ‘the more things change’ to a belief that the old parties no longer represent their supposed constituent bases.  

Ultimately the club sided with a long-term view of electoral history, and in the final vote the motion was rejected.

Upcoming Events

  • June debate - geopolitics of Covid-19 1 June 2020 at 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Online debate - use contact us form or join our mailing list for details
  • July debate - topic tbc 6 July 2020 at 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Online debate - use contact us form or join our mailing list for details
  • August debate - topic tbc 3 August 2020 at 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Ye Olde Cock Tavern, 22 Fleet St, Holborn, London EC4Y 1AA
  • September debate - topic tbc 7 September 2020 at 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Ye Olde Cock Tavern, 22 Fleet St, Holborn, London EC4Y 1AA
  • October debate - topic tbc 5 October 2020 at 7:00 pm – 9:00 am Ye Olde Cock Tavern, 22 Fleet St, Holborn, London EC4Y 1AA

Twitter feed

My Tweets

Search Site

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Sylvan Debating Club
Join Our Newsletter
Please correct the marked field(s) below.
1,true,6,Contact Email,2 1,false,1,First Name,2 1,false,1,Last Name,2
  Thank you for Signing Up

Legal Disclaimer

Any views expressed on this site are not necessarily those of the Sylvan Debating Club or any individual associated with the club.  

© 2020 Sylvan Debating Club | Debating today's key issues in London since 1868