Festival of Politics programme launched at Centre for Public Policy and Scottish Parliament event
Published: 19 June 2026
19 June 2026: The Scottish Parliament launched its 2026 Festival of Politics programme on Monday 15 June, at a panel event in collaboration with the University of Glasgow Centre for Public Policy, with an expert panel discussion examining some of the big issues ahead for Scotland, and which feature in this year’s event programme.
19 June 2026: The Scottish Parliament launched its 2026 Festival of Politics programme on Monday 15 June, at a panel event in collaboration with the University of Glasgow Centre for Public Policy, with an expert panel discussion examining some of the big issues ahead for Scotland, and which feature in this year’s event programme.
On Monday 15 June, the Centre for Public Policy collaborated with the Scottish Parliament to host an expert panel examining the key issues facing Scotland in the coming parliamentary term, and to launch the Festival of Politics 2026 programme.
In a context of tightening fiscal constraints, rapid technological change, and persistent socioeconomic pressures, policymakers are navigating an increasingly complex environment where straightforward solutions are in short supply.
Hosted by David McGill, Chief Executive of the Scottish Parliament, the panel explored where the biggest risks and opportunities lie, and how decision-makers might respond to a set of deeply interconnected challenges spanning governance, the economy, inequality, and technological change.
The panel featured leading University of Glasgow experts Nicola McEwen, Director of the Centre for Public Policy and Professor of Public Policy and Governance; Graeme Roy, Professor of Economics and Chair of the Scottish Fiscal Commission; Bridgette Wessels, Professor in the Sociology of Inequalities, and Morag Treanor, Professor of Social Policy and Inequality.
Festival of Politics 2026 programme - 27 and 28 August
The event was the formal launch of the Scottish Parliament’s Festival of Politics programme, two days totalling more than 20 events, taking place in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 27 and Friday 28 August 2026.
The programme features experts and commentators from politics, the arts, business, the media and the third sector, on topics tackling some of the big political, economic, social and international issues facing Scotland, the UK and the world.
Brexit: Ten years on
The Centre for Public Policy is partnering with the Parliament on a second panel event during the Festival, examining the impacts of Brexit ten years on from the referendum.
With speakers:
- Professor Nicola McEwen, Director,UofG Centre for Public Policy
- Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Centre for Public Policy Senior Fellow
- Professor Katy Hayward is Professor of Political Sociology at Queen’s University, Belfast
- Professor Anand Menon, Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs and Director of the UK in a Changing Europe
Thursday 27 August, 9:45am ‐ 11:00am.
University of Glasgow at the Festival of Politics
The Festival programme features a host of leading voices from across the University of Glasgow, showcasing the vast research and expertise happening in our world-changing University.
On Thursday 27 August
- Brexit - ten years on
In partnership with the Centre for Public Policy, University of Glasgow
9.45am ‐ 11am - Why we need to talk AI
Dr Paul Reilly, Senior Lecturer in Communications, Media & Democracy
1pm ‐ 2.15pm - Young people and trust in politics
Dr Sylvia Behrens, Researcher
1.15pm ‐ 2.30pm - Does AI help or hinder the climate crisis?
Professor Marian Scott, Professor of Statistics
4.30pm ‐ 5.45pm - Can we take politics out of museums?
Zandra Yeaman, Head of Strategy Development and Implementation, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow
6.15pm ‐ 7.30pm
On Friday 28 August:
- A Scotland of more homes: growing prosperity and shrinking poverty
Professor Duncan Maclennan, Emeritus Professor of Urban Economics
1pm ‐ 2.15pm - Civil disobedience - from rent strikes to Kenmure Street
Katherine Mackinnon, PhD researcher
1.15pm - 2.30pm - When does free speech become hate speech?
In partnership with The John Smith Centre
Professor Adam Tomkins, John Millar Professor of Public Law
3pm ‐ 4.15pm - Scotland's Disability Summit - what next?
Dr Richard Brunner, Research Fellow at the Centre for Disability Research
Lucy Mulvagh, CEO of Disability Equality Scotland and Centre for Public Policy Practice Fellow 2025-26
4.30pm ‐ 5.45pm - The evolution of devolution
Professor Nicola McEwen, Professor of Public Policy and Governance and Director Centre for Public Policy
4.45pm ‐ 6pm
Find out more and book on the Festival of Politics website.
First published: 19 June 2026
