Robert Shrimsley Keynote Speaker

Robert Shrimsley is the UK chief political commentator and UK editor at large of the Financial Times.

Over a 30 year career working for the Daily Telegraph and the FT, Robert has been a close observer of Westminster and Whitehall, reporting on the Major and Blair governments before becoming the FT’s news editor. In that role he led the paper’s coverage of the financial crisis before moving to become managing editor of FT.com, overseeing the FT’s switch to becoming a web-first news organisation.

His time in charge of the website has also given him a front-row seat on the development of new media and the technological, regulatory and political challenges it poses.

For the last 15 years he has also written a weekly satirical column focused primarily on British politics and global affairs as well as a more personal column in the FT Magazine.

In 2017 he won the Swift Prize for Economic Satire – a field which his wife notes, may not be overcrowded.

After the Brexit referendum he returned to Westminster to become the FT’s main UK political writer where his acerbic commentary takes aim at the ascendancy of ideological rather than pragmatic politics. He has written extensively on Brexit, the Conservative party and Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour revolution. His work manages to combine humour and anecdotes with serious political analysis.

A graduate of the London School of Economics and an accomplished public speaker, Robert has spoken at Kilkenomics and the Dalkey Book Festival as well as at the FT Weekend Festival where he led the panel on “Britain’s Nervous Breakdown”.  Robert has done numerous breakfast briefings on the political climate and has appeared on stage at the Barbican speaking about the connections between His Fridge and Theresa May.

Robert undertakes keynote addresses, moderation and appearing on panels.

Speaker topics include:

• When the cult of strong leadership is over-rated in politics.
• Geo-politics: Britain is a case study in the defeat of globalisation
• Britain’s nervous breakdown.
• How Brexit is permanently reshaping politics.
  
• How Brexit is forcing Britain to confront its true status in the world.
• How Britain is stepping out of the low tax, low regulation lane.
  Regardless of how the election plays out both sides are heading towards a higher tax, higher public spending approach which is less business friendly and more sceptical of the needs of global commerce.