Can Labour be trusted with our education system?

Ruth, a Professor of Education at the University of Manchester, will speak at the event, held in recognition of the City of Leeds Training College's first female Vice-Principal, and feminist, Winifred Mercier, on Wednesday 5 March.

The free public lecture takes place at 6pm, with refreshments from 5pm, at Leeds Met's Headingley Campus, where Ruth will draw on her recent research into Labour's education and social policy records to ask whether or not a Labour government's policies really work in the interests of those living in poverty and disadvantage, or if they worsen existing patterns or privilege and inequality.

Focusing on the next General Election, discussion will be encouraged around the changes initiated by the Coalition and the thoughts of those working in education. Ruth will also discuss her thoughts on what might happen in the education sector should Labour be elected in 2015.

Professor Lori Beckett, The Winifred Mercier Professor of Teacher Education at Leeds Metropolitan University, commented: "The annual Winifred Mercier public lectures are an established institution at Leeds Met during the week of International Women's Day. These lectures, delivered by prominent critical-feminist scholars of teaching and teacher education, provoke critical discussion and debate about current policies and practices. These reflections, directed by such distinguished scholars as Professor Lupton, are vital lessons for policy-makers and politicians to learn from those in the profession."

Ruth Lupton is currently working on a major project for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Nuffield Foundation and Trust for London, investigating the impact of Labour and Coalition policies on poverty and inequality in the UK.

Instituted in 2007, the annual lecture commemorates the life and work of Winifred Mercier who, from 1913 to 1915, was Vice-Principal at the former City of Leeds Training College. Greatly respected for her intellect and passion, Winifred was not afraid to engage in public policy debates and ask questions of the government of the day. A first-wave feminist, she encouraged her contemporaries to consider society as it was and as it could be, and deliberate on the role and function of education in building the social world.