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The Civil Service and the British Empire

Part of the conference held at the University of Sussex on April 8th, 2022: 'Ethics and the Civil Service- Past, Present, and Future'.  

The event brought together historians, political scientists, civil servants, lobbyists and politicians to investigate the factors that lay behind the revelations of poor standards of ethical conduct among senior civil servants in Whitehall in recent scandals such as the Greensill Affair and the ongoing 'Partygate'. The symposium also sought to challenge the persistent myth that traditionally high standards of professional conduct among UK Civil Servants have their roots in the 1854 Northcote-Trevelyan Report and to emphasise that it was the 'modern' Civil Service which administered the British Empire in its final century.

Speakers:

Dr Colin Alexander (Nottingham Trent University) - 'Inside the Mind of the Colonial Administrator: Enthusiasm, Self-loathing, Denial and Preservation' 

Dr Steven Pierce (University of Manchester) – ‘Poison and Typewriters: Framing Government Malpractice in Colonial Northern Nigeria’ 

Chair: Dr Ian Cawood (University of Stirling)

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