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The ever-fascinating current and future political scene, understanding how politicians can help businesses to achieve their goals, the perennial challenge of immigration and employment opportunities for disabled people, will be the fascinating topics that Tom Pursglove, former Member of Parliament for Corby & East Northamptonshire, Immigration Minister and Minister for Disabled People, will be sharing his insight and wisdom on.

This is an unmissable opportunity to gain an appreciation, and better our understanding of, how UK businesses can engage with their local MPs and local and national government to enhance output and productivity, and to put British businesses back in the driving seat!

WHEN / WHERE:

Join us on: Thursday 22^nd May 2025

Time: 10.30am-12.00pm

Via: Virtual and on Zoom 

About Tom:

Tom Pursglove was the Member of Parliament for Corby & East Northamptonshire between May 2015 and July 2024, winning three General Elections in a tough perennial 'bell-weather seat', and prior to that, served for eight years in local government.

In Parliament, Tom was as an active constituency MP and served in various challenging ministerial roles in Government continuously, under successive Prime Ministers, including as Minister of State for Legal Migration and the Border, Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, Minister of State for Immigration, Minister of State for Crime, Policing, Victims and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), Minister for Justice & Tackling Illegal Migration, and as an Assistant Government Whip.

Amongst his achievements at the Home Office was steering several flagship legislative overhauls of judicial and immigration processes through Parliament; advancing the biggest package of measures ever to cut legal migration numbers, delivering a sharp decline in visa numbers and a more sustainable system; announcing the world-first Migration & Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda, aimed at breaking the business model of the evil criminal gangs responsible for illegal migration in the Channel, recognising that novel solutions and deterrents are needed to tackle what is sophisticated, complex criminality, whilst at the same time driving valuable economic development in Rwanda; closed over 150 hotels for asylum accommodation purposes; and saw through the delivery of 20,000 extra police officers on our streets, as well as improving the support available for victims of crime and ensuring tougher sentences for perpetrators.

At the Department for Work & Pensions, he oversaw for a time the successful efforts to help and support over two million more disabled people into work and designed new initiatives to build on that progress, including to address economic inactivity and people falling out of work owing to health conditions; developed and announced the most significant structural welfare reform package since the introduction of Universal Credit, much of which is being taken forward by the new government; as well as promoted various flagship initiatives to enhance inclusion and widen opportunity in our society, representing the United Kingdom at the UN in New York on this agenda. This is an area he has an enduring passion for and he continues to work to promote the benefits of employment as a force for good in our society, unlocking life chances and skills, as well as actively supporting initiatives that foster inclusion and provide wider opportunities for disabled people, including through Special Olympics GB.

Having (involuntarily!) left Parliament at the last General Election, Tom hopes to return to the green benches at some point in the future. He remains active in Conservative politics, is a regular media contributor, and is a founding Director of Ascalane Partners Ltd (https://ascalanepartners.uk/), a strategic consultancy spanning various fields of specialism, and drawing on his extensive knowledge of the UK political scene and the workings of Whitehall and Parliament.

Virtual Zoom log-in and joining details will be shared with you the week before.