The Whitehall Group, a forum of the Cambridge University Land Society (CULS),
is a high level influential policy discussion group of well-connected University
of Cambridge alumni, who are mainly members of CULS. It pulls together a
previous legacy of high quality events over the last two decades which is outside the
mainstream of CULS activities, into a special group restricted in size of membership,
of individual and corporate members.
The Whitehall Group operates through a series of focused lunches and dinners in
London for up to 25 attendees per meeting in order to maintain an exclusive, intimate
and senior level gathering. The Whitehall Group also runs a distinguished series of
public policy lectures – it publishes these, together with Occasional papers and a
series of White Paper policy papers. Whitehall Group events cover a wide range of
macro-economic business, social and educational issues of the day – The Economy,
Foreign Affairs, Social and Health Policies, Infrastructure, Transport, Energy, Climate
Change, Finance and Investment, Environment, Housing, Technology, Real Estate
Investment and Finance, Urban Planning, Education and Politics.
Whitehall Group Steering Committee Members: Colm Lauder – Co-Founder, Lauder Teacher (Whitehall Group Chairman); Lauren Fendick – Partner, Winston Taylor LLP; Anna Harper – Director, Pinnacle Investments; Simon Ward – Partner, Farrer & Co.
For further information please contact the Group Secretary at: fionajones.wg@culandsoc.com.
Whitehall Group Events Diary (from January 2026)
Whitehall Group lunch – Thursday, 22nd January 2026
Speaker: George Freeman MP
Subject: ‘What the UK need to do differently to avoid losing out in the global race to be a Science Superpower’
Whitehall Group Lunch – 12th February 2026
Kindly hosted by Farrer & Co.
Speaker: Professor the Baroness (Alison) Wolf DBE, Sir Roy Griffiths Professor of Public Sector Management, KCL’s / House of Lords
Subject: “Are our universities in crisis?”
Whitehall Group lunch – Thursday, 26th March 2026
Kindly hosted by Newmark
Speaker: Baroness Maclean of Redditch, House of Lords
Subject: ‘The politics of planning – an insider’s view’
Whitehall Group lunch – Tuesday, 21st April 2026
Speaker: Katie Lam MP, UK Parliament
Subject: ‘People, Places and Pressure: Immigration, planning and the UK Housing System’
Whitehall Group lunch – Thursday, 30th April 2026
Kindly hosted by Taylor Wessing
Speaker: Professor Sriya Iyer, Professor of Economics and Social Science at the University of Cambridge
Subject: ‘Religions and Economic Development’
Whitehall Group Lunch – Thursday, 14th May 2026
Speaker: Mark Campanale, Founder, Carbon Tracker Initiative
Subject: ‘The Energy Transition and the End of the Fossil Fuel Era’
12th Whitehall Group Lecture – Wednesday, 10th June 2026 at 6.30pm
Venue: The Royal Institution of Great Britain – The Faraday Theatre
Speaker: Professor Michael Puett –
Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History and Anthropology at Harvard University
Introduced by: The Rt Hon the Lord Smith of Finsbury, Chancellor, University of Cambridge
Subject: “How Should We Understand China – States, Markets, and the International Order”
You can view the lecture via the utube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JSr-_E9cHA
Whitehall Group dinner – Thursday, 24th September 2026
Speaker: Bronwen Maddox, Chief Executive, Chatham House
Title: USA at 250: what does American’s next chapter mean for Britain?’
Whitehall Group lunch – Wednesday, 21st October 2026
Kindly hosted by Winston Taylor LLP
Speaker: Elizabeth Salter Green, Founder, CHEM Trust
Title: The Toxic Consumer: Are We Doing Enough to Protect Ourselves from Harmful Chemicals?
Whitehall Group lunch – Wednesday, 11th November 2026 (12.30 – 2.30pm)
Venue: Central London – to be confirmed
Speaker: Professor Guy Standing FAcSS, Professorial Research Associate, SOAS University of London
Title: Human Capital: The Tragedy of the Education Commons
Whitehall Group Christmas Drinks – Thursday, 10th December 2026
Kindly hosted by Mills and Reeve LLP
Whitehall Group lunch – Thursday, 18th February 2027
Speaker: Sir Peter Bazalgette, Pro-Chancellor and Chair of Council at the Royal College of Art and former Chair of ITV
Subject: The Evolution of British Broadcasting and Public Service Media
Whitehall Group Past Events – 2025
Whitehall Group lunch – Wednesday, 15th January, 2025
Speaker: Professor Guy Standing FAcSS, Professorial Research Associate, SOAS, University of London
Subject: “The Politics of Time: The Precariat in the Trump Era”
Whitehall Group lunch – Wednesday, 26th February, 2025
Speaker: Professor Michael Cox, Founding Director, LSE IDEAS
Subject: ‘The Strange Case of the American Empire: From Clinton to Trump’
Whitehall Group lunch – Thursday, 20th March 2025 (12.30 – 2.30pm)
Speaker: Dr. Shaun Fitzgerald FREng OBE, Centre for Climate Repair / Director of Research, Cambridge Zero, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge
Subject: ‘Can we freeze the Arctic?’
Whitehall Group lunch – Wednesday, 9th April 2025 (12.30 – 2.30pm)
Kindly hosted by Trowers & Hamlins
Speaker: Andrew Carter, Chief Executive, Centre for Cities
Subject: “Big Cities and their role in delivering national growth”
Whitehall Group lunch – Thursday, 15th May 2025 (12.30 – 2.30pm)
Kindly hosted by Farrer & Co.
Speaker: Professor The Lord Skidelsky, House of Lords and British economics historian
Subject: ‘The Future of AI in the Age of Geopolitics’
Whitehall Group panel discussion – Tuesday, 10th June 2025 (6 – 8.30pm)
Kindly hosted by Carter Jonas LLP
Subject: Britain, Failed State – Can It Be Fixed
Moderator: Emily Maitlis
Panellists: Sam Freedman; Martin Wolf CBE; General The Lord David Richards of Herstmonceux
Whitehall Group Lunch – Thursday, 17th July 2025
Speaker: Sir John Armitt CBE FREng FICE, Interim Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission of United Kingdon
Subject: UK Infrastructure Investment
Whitehall Group Lunch – Wednesday, 1st October 2025
Speaker: Sir Simon Clarke, Director, Onward
Subject: “A return to 1976? How Britain can escape the doom loop”
Whitehall Group Lunch – Wednesday, 15th October 2025
Kindly hosted by Farrer & Co.
Speaker: Professor Colin Lizieri, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge
Subject: “Rational Values, Sentiment and Investor Behaviour in Real Estate Markets”
Whitehall Group Lunch – Thursday, 20th November 2025
Kindly hosted by Taylor Wessing
Speaker: Suzanne Raine, Master of Selwyn College, University of Cambridge
Subject: Geopolitics and global security – title to be confirmed
Whitehall Group Christmas Drinks – Thursday, 11th December 2025
Kindly hosted by Mills and Reeve LLP
Whitehall Lecture Series
Professor Michael Puett (October 2026)
Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History and Anthropology at Harvard University
‘States, Markets, and the International Order, or How Should We Understand China?’
The lecturer was introduced by The Rt. Hon. the Lord Smith of Finsbury,
Chancellor at the University of Cambridge.
The Lecture can be viewed via he YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JSr-_E9cHA
Dr. Gillian Tett OBE (October 2024)
Provost of Kings College / Financial Times Editorial Board Member
‘1919 or 1945? The warnings from Keynes for geopolitics today’
The Lecture can be viewed via the YouTube link: The Eleventh Whitehall Lecture
Professor Philippe Sands QC (October 2021)
Professor of Laws and Director of the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals, UCL
‘Chagos: The last British Colony in Africa – A short history of Colonialism, a Modern Crime Against Humanity’
The Lecture can be viewed via the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/live/t2eKawaBIqQ
Professor David Runciman FBA (November 2020)
Professor of Politics, University of Cambridge
‘Did Covid Kill the Climate? How Democracies Fail in a Time of Crisis’
Professor Sir Paul Collier CBE, FBA (October 2019)
Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
‘The Future of Capitalism’
Professor Becky Francis (April 2017)
Director of the Institute of Education, University College London
‘The role of Academies in UK Education Policy’
Richard Brown, CBE, DL (February 2017)
Non-Executive Director Department of Transport and Network Rail and HS2
(former CEO and Chairman, Eurostar)
‘UK Transport – are we investing enough to avoid gridlock and meet the capacity challenge?’
The Rt. Hon. The Lord Willetts (November 2016)
Chairman, The Resolution Foundation
‘UK Policy: Prioritising Science and Innovation’
Professor Chris Ham, CBE (2015)
Chief Executive, The King’s Fund
‘What needs to be done to secure the future of the NHS?’
Dame Kate Barker, CBE (April 2015)
Senior Visiting Fellow, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge
‘How will we house our children – UK Housing Policy’
Lord Deighton, KBE (2015)
Commercial Secretary HM Treasury
‘Infrastructure in the 21st Century: from the Olympics to High Speed Rail and beyond’
Professor Sir Malcolm Grant, CBE (2014)
Chairman NHS England
‘The Extraordinary Challenges of Future Healthcare and the Estates Implications for the NHS’
Inaugural Lecture given at the Royal Institution of Great Britain
The Lectures are all published and available via the link Articles – Cambridge University Land Society
