The forthcoming General Election has brought to the fore public discussion about the role and effectiveness of many of our social institutions.

A growing number of voices have been calling for a new political settlement – one that re-imagines the relationship between politics, government, business and civil society. A settlement that places the common good at the heart of decision-making, which allows politicians to move away from short-term electoral constraints and which encourages us all, as we excercise our democratic right to vote, to consider that voting for reasons greater than our own self-interest would be in our mutual self-interest.

St Paul's Institute, in partnership with Theos and Together for the Common Good, held a public debate on these issues in St Paul's Cathedral on 29th April 2015. Our invited speakers were Craig Calhoun, Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science; Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty; Conor Kehoe, Director of McKinsey and Company; and Loretta Minghella OBE, Chief Executive of Christian Aid.

Video by StPaulsLondon

Image by Graham Lacdao, St Paul's Cathedral