The Conservative Party’s Legacy: Asylum, Migration and Refugee Policy

How have the UK’s political parties approached refugees and migration, and what shapes their positions today? This four-part seminar series, organised by the Refugee Law Initiative and History & Policy, brings together politicians, policymakers, academics and practitioners to examine the Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green Party approaches to refugee and migration policy.

Each seminar will explore the history of the party’s relationship with refugees and migration, alongside its current approach to asylum, refugees and migration.

Across the series, speakers will consider how political traditions and competing priorities have shaped the parties’ approaches to refugees and migration, and how these perspectives continue to shape this crucial debate today.

Date: Wednesday 4 November, 6:30pm

Venue: Lecture Theatre, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Charles Clore House 17 Russell Square London WC1B 5DR

Speakers:

• David Simmonds MP, Conservative Party co-chair of the APPG for Migration
• Professor Alan Manning, LSE Economist, Why Immigration Policy Is Hard: And How to Make it Better (2025), former chair of the UK's Migration Advisory Committee
• Steve Symonds, Policy Lead - Refugee and Migrant Rights, Amnesty International

This seminar is part of the 17th International Refugee Law Seminar Series: The Future of Refugee Law. The seminar will be followed by a drinks reception and is open to all. It is free to attend but booking is required.

This series is organised by the Refugee Law Initiative in collaboration with History & Policy.