University English, the Institute of English Studies, The English Association and Bloomsbury Press took the case for English Studies to Westminster at a Parliamentary Breakfast hosted by the Rt. Hon. the Lord Baker of Dorking CH PC on Thursday 18 June 2026.
L – R: Katherine Baxter; Lucy Grove; Rebecca Fisher, Julia Kacala, Ben Davies, Kathryn Walchester, Clare Lees, Nigel Newton, Katie Greenbank, Saba Mohamed, Robert Eaglestone.
Guests from business, education, media and the Higher Education sector came together to discuss the national importance of English language, literature, and creative writing in our schools, universities and public life. The Breakfast was an opportunity to to change the public conversation about English, demonstrate its contribution to the nation, celebrate its power and work to guarantee access to English for all. Nigel Newton, founder and CEO of Bloomsbury Press, and leading advocate for English Studies declared the event a huge success, stressing the potential for change harnessed at the Breakfast. Read A Charter for Change
In attendance were:
Samira Ahmed (Journalist, Broadcast, Writer; BBC)
Rt. Hon. the Lord Baker of Dorking CH (host of the meeting)
Katherine Baxter (Chair of the English Association Higher Education Committee; Professor of English Literature, Northumbria University)
Ben Davies (University English; Professor of Literature and Chair of Humanities, University of Southern Denmark)
Robert Eaglestone (Cross-Sector Educational Policy Lead for The English Association; Professor of Contemporary Literature and Thought, Royal Holloway, University of London)
Andrew Ettinger (Director of Education, National Literacy Trust)
Katie Greenbank (Second in Charge of English, The Swan School, Oxford)
Lucy Grove (Director of Communications, The British Academy)
Clare Lees (Professor of Medieval Literature and Director of The Institute of English Studies)
Rebecca Fisher (CEO of The English Association)
Julia Kacala (BA English Language and Literature Student, Lancaster University)
Saba Mohamed (Student, The Swan School, Oxford)
Nigel Newton (Founder and CEO of Bloomsbury Publishing)
Laura Saunderson (Senior Member of the Board and CEO Advisory practice, Russell Reynolds Associates)
Helen Small (Merton Professor of English Language and Literature, University of Oxford)
The Rt Hon. the Lord Smith of Finsbury (Chancellor of the University of Cambridge)
Lord Strathcarron (Chairman of Unicorn Publishing Group)
Kathryn Walchester (Chair of University English; Reader in English Literature, Liverpool John Moores University
