Peter Mandelson to give the 2008 Alcuin Lecture

The talk, which is free to attend and open to all, will be on Europe and the open world. It will be followed by a short question and answer session.

A former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland - as well as Tony Blair's campaign manager in the 1997 election - Mr Mandelson became European Commissioner for Trade in 2004. He is also honorary Chair of the Policy Network; a European and international think-tank which promotes the exchange and debate of centre-left policy ideas and European social democratic thinking.

He is a life-long pro-European, and led the British delegation to the first ever meeting of the European Communities Youth Forum in Strasbourg in 1979, when he was 26. After working as an economist at the Trades Union Congress and as a current affairs TV producer, Mr Mandelson was appointed Labour Party Director for Campaigns and Communications in 1985. Seven years later, he was elected MP for Hartlepool, where he served until 2004.

Mr Mandelson was appointed Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in 1998, the year after the landslide election victory that he helped to mastermind. He oversaw the introduction of Britain's first ever National Minimum Wage, as well as the creation of Regional Development Agencies.

A year later, he became Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, during which tenure he negotiated the creation of a power-sharing government and the IRA's announcement that they planned to put their arms beyond use. He also introduced a radical overhaul of the Northern Ireland police service.

Mr Mandelson was also UK chairman of the UK-Japan 21st Century Group, which brings together leading academics, politicians and business people. At his confirmation hearing in the European Parliament in October 2004, he said: “I am convinced that trade policy, used well, can make a powerful contribution to economic development around the world, as long as we recognise the needs of the poorest.”

The Alcuin lectures are named after the 8th century scholar Alcuin of York, who was a key advisor to the Emperor Charlemagne and a central figure in the Carolingian Renaissance. The lectures were established in 1999 with a benefaction from Lord Brittan, himself a former European Commissioner. The theme for the lecture must be some aspect of the relationship between Britain and the European Institutions. Previous speakers have included Lord Patten, Lord Hannay and Dr Carl Bildt.

The Alcuin lecture will be given in the Senate-House at 5pm on Friday, 8 February, and will be followed by a reception in the University Combination Room for those attending. All are welcome; senior members of the University who wish to attend the Lecture should wear gowns.

Source: By University of Cambridge