Join us at the Reform UK Conference and take a stand for British freedom.

Your right to speak your mind, enjoy a cigarette, or just have a quiet pint at your local is under direct attack. The Government wants digital IDs, nanny-state rules, and even more control over your life.

Enough is enough.

Let's fight state overreach, scrap authoritarian laws, and put common sense back in charge.

Grab a drink with us and hear how we can take our freedom back.

European defence spending is under renewed political pressure, yet the UK's industrial base faces critical questions regarding capacity, readiness, and strategic gaps. At the same time, artificial intelligence is rapidly emerging as the defining military advantage of the 21st century. Bringing together military leadership, defence analysts, and policy experts, this panel assesses whether Britain is equipped to support a nation at war—examining urgent procurement bottlenecks and production capacity alongside the strategic integration of AI, autonomous systems, intelligence processing, and battlefield decision-making to strengthen national defence.

Join the Adam Smith Institute and Cadent Gas for a panel discussion on cutting the price of power.

Britain has become a world leader in offshore wind, yet questions about grid stability, energy cost, and security of supply persist. This panel takes a rigorous look at the economics and politics of the renewables transition, asking whether the UK's green energy ambitions are compatible with reliable, affordable electricity, and what a genuinely market-driven approach to clean energy would look like.

Join the Adam Smith Institute and Fuels Industry UK for a morning reception to fuel both your day and the broader debate on Britain’s energy outlook.

At a time of heightened geopolitical uncertainty and industrial risk, safeguarding the UK’s fuel resilience and protecting our domestic manufacturing base are critical to our national parliamentarians, policy colleagues, and industry leaders over breakfast.

Following brief opening remarks from Richard Tice MP (Deputy Leader of Reform UK and spokesperson for Business, Energy and Trade) and Elizabeth De Jong (Chief Executive of Fuels Industry UK), the floor will be open for informal networking and discussion on the key issues facing the sector.

Drop in for light breakfast refreshments, share insights with like-minded colleagues, and help power the conversation on securing the UK's energy future.

​Join us for our next Next Generation drinks on 1st September!

​This month, we are delighted to welcome Lord Kempsell, highly accomplished journalist and political strategist. Ross is one of Britain’s most distinguished political strategists and communication experts, having served as a senior advisor to Boris Johnson, Political Director for Conservative Campaign Headquarters and as a journalist at Guido Fawkes.

​Lord Elliott’s book, Ten Years: On The Untold Story of Brexit – Reflections on a Life of Campaigning, charts the course of his life in campaigning, with a particular focus on the EU referendum campaign and his role as Chief Executive of the Vote Leave campaign.

​Join us for our next Next Generation drinks on Tuesday, 7th July!

​This month, we are thrilled to welcome Denys Demko, Economic Secretary at the Embassy of Ukraine in the UK.

The way ideas spread is changing. Traditional media outlets and political institutions no longer hold the same influence they once did. Today, creators, podcasters, independent journalists, and online communities play an increasingly important role in shaping public debate and cultural change.

Join Casey Given, CEO of Young Voices, for a discussion on how influence works in today’s media environment and what Britain’s advocates of free markets, free speech, and open inquiry can learn from America’s rapidly evolving media landscape.

Join us for an Enlightenment Evening exploring the "Invisible Hand" behind the American Revolution with Dr. Mark Skousen on Wednesday, 17th June.

​In his 1776 magnum opus The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith made a radical, highly controversial argument: Great Britain should grant the American colonies independence. He viewed them not as a jewel in the Crown, but as a "financial drag." Yet, curiously, Smith also predicted that these same colonies would rise to become one of the most formidable empires in history.

Adam Smith is often caricatured as the prophet of unfettered individualism. Yet, Smith believed the Invisible Hand could only function within a society bound by sympathy, family, and local institutions. The Adam Smith Institute invites you to a keynote lecture where Danny Kruger MP, Head of Preparation for Government for Reform UK, sets out his party’s principles for social policy.

🕺 Join us for our next Next Generation drinks on Tuesday, 2nd June! 💃

​​This month, we are thrilled to welcome Harriet Cross MP, the Member of Parliament for Gordon and Buchan.

Join us for an exclusive screening of Part 1 of our landmark two-part television documentary - a profound exploration of 20th-century history that traces the harrowing descent from idealistic hope to systemic oppression.

Narrated by the acclaimed Hugh Bonneville, this film brings together esteemed historians and the courageous voices of survivors to examine how ideologies born of optimism ultimately paved the way for deprivation and slaughter under the era’s most notorious dictatorships.

Event Schedule

• Screening: Part 1 of the Documentary (Narrated by Hugh Bonneville)

• Discussion: A 30-minute Q&A session, led by The Rt Hon Steve Baker FRSA, will immediately follow the film.

The Adam Smith Institute and University College Bahrain are delighted to welcome you to the Second Global Enlightenment Forum on Saturday, the 9th of May. 

​​​​The Global Enlightenment Forum is an annual series of whole-day academic conferences centred around the origins, growth, proliferation and application of Enlightenment thought and philosophy to the non-Western world.

🕺 Join us for another Next Generation drinks on Tuesday, 5th May! 💃

​This month, we’re thrilled to welcome Kitty Thompson, Head of Campaigns at the Conservative Environment Network (CEN).

​🕺 Join us for another Next Generation drinks on Tuesday, 7th April! 💃

​This month, we are thrilled to be joined by Gawain Towler, a titan of British political communications and the strategist who helped reshape the UK’s constitutional landscape.

​Join us for a Book Launch assessing the relationship between autocracy, economic liberalisation and low-carbon energy sources with Dr McPherson-Smith on Wednesday, 11th March

​Why do some autocrats embrace the free market while others retreat into protectionism? Conventional wisdom suggests that resource-rich regimes only liberalise when they are desperate for cash. In his new book, Crude Calculations, ASI Senior Fellow Dr Oliver McPherson-Smith challenges this perspective.

On Monday, 9th March 2026, join us to mark a monumental milestone - the 250th anniversary of the publication of The Wealth of Nations.

To celebrate the legacy of Adam Smith, we are delighted to welcome Rory Sutherland - Vice-Chairman of Ogilvy UK and Britain’s most bohemian adman - to the National Liberal Club.

🕺 Join us for another Next Generation drinks on Tuesday, 3rd March! 💃

​For our March TNG, we are thrilled to be joined by the Deputy Editor of the New Statesman, Will Lloyd. A master of the long-form takedown, Will has carved out a reputation as one of the most distinctive voices in British journalism. Whether he’s dissecting the ego of a Cabinet Minister or unpicking the failure of a party conference, he has become the preeminent field reporter of Britain’s political bubble.

​Will was previously a reporter at the Sunday Times and a pet insurance salesman in Sydney, Australia. The two jobs had nothing in common. He lives in Bloomsbury, with a framed photograph of Virginia Woolf.

Join us on Thursday, 19th February for a discussion on The Growth Agenda.

We’re delighted to be hosting our panellists Alys Denby (Opinions & Features Editor of City AM), Alex Mengden (Economist at the Tax Foundation), Mathew Sim (Senior Policy Advisor at the TBI), Aria Schrecker (Editor at Works in Progress) and the report’s authors, Jasper Ostle (Head of Research & Education at the ASI) and Mitchell Palmer (Economist at the ASI).

​​​​​​​🕺 Join us for another Next Generation drinks on Tuesday, 3rd February! 💃

This month, we’re delighted to be joined by Lord Elliot of Mickle Fell, a Conservative life peer in the House of Lords. Before becoming a lord of the realm, Lord Elliot founded the TaxPayers' Alliance and Big Brother Watch, and played pivotal roles in the NOtoAV and Vote Leave referendum campaigns of the 2010s. In 2025 he wrote "Prosperity Through Growth: Boosting Living Standards in an Age of Autocracy and AI" in collaboration with Professor Arthur Laffer, Lord Hintze, and Douglas McWilliams.

​🕺 Join us for another Next Generation drinks on Tuesday, 13th January! 💃

​​​​​This month, we’re delighted to be joined by Cllr Laila Cunningham, Westminster City Councillor for Reform UK. A former lawyer with the Crown Prosecution Service, she is a leading voice in London politics and staunch admirer of Margaret Thatcher. She's coming to rail against the state's slow encroachment against British civil liberties. Feel similarly? Then come along!

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​​​​​​​Housekeeping:

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Date: Tuesday, 13th January 2026

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Time: Doors open 6pm sharp (early arrivals will succumb to the zeitgeist)

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Venue: 23 Great Smith Street, Westminster. SW1P 3DJ

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Refreshments provided 🍷

​​​​​

​​​​​A bit more about these meetings:

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​At TNGs, we throw our doors open to Westminster’s finest to enjoy a political discussion over a few glasses of (free) wine. Open to parliamentary staffers, journos, SpAds, consultants, students and even the odd civil servant, TNGs are a place to network, chat, relax and always feature great remarks from our guest speaker. Whatever your politics, we just like interesting ideas and we hope you do too. It’s for under-35s, it’s informal and we normally end up at the Marquis of Granby. ​​​If we reach capacity with RSVPs, we will add you to our waiting list and let you know if a place becomes available.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Please note this event is exclusively for under-35s.

🕺 Join us for another Next Generation drinks on Tuesday, 2nd December! 💃

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This month, we’re delighted to be joined by Hugo Gye, Political Editor of The i Paper. A veritable heavyweight of the Westminster journalism scene, his muckraking has taken him through institutions like the MailOnline, the Sun, and now The i. He was Chairman of the Parliamentary Lobby Journalists (as his X banner lovingly displays) in 2023. He's here to chat with us about life as a political journalist over wine and gossip; join in!​

​​​​​​​​Register for Event

​​​​​​Housekeeping:

​​​​​​​​​​​​Date: Tuesday, 2nd December 2025

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Time: Doors open 6pm sharp (early arrivals will be trapped in an M. C. Escher painting)

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Venue: 23 Great Smith Street, Westminster. SW1P 3DJ

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Refreshments provided 🍷

​​​​

​​​​A bit more about these meetings:

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​At TNGs, we throw our doors open to Westminster’s finest to enjoy a political discussion over a few glasses of (free) wine. Open to parliamentary staffers, journos, SpAds, consultants, students and even the odd civil servant, TNGs are a place to network, chat, relax and always feature great remarks from our guest speaker. Whatever your politics, we just like interesting ideas and we hope you do too. It’s for under-35s, it’s informal and we normally end up at the Marquis of Granby. ​​​If we reach capacity with RSVPs, we will add you to our waiting list and let you know if a place becomes available.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Please note this event is exclusively for under-35s.

🕺 Join us for another Next Generation drinks on Tuesday, 4th November! 💡

​​​This month, we’re thrilled to be joined by Rachel Gilmour MP, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Tiverton and Minehead. Formerly the Director of Communications at the National Farmers' Union and Head of Strategy at the Environment Agency, Rachel entered the House of Commons in 2024 and is Vice-Chair of the Rural Business and the Rural Powerhouse APPG. She's here to bang the liberal drum against authoritarianism, with style - come along!

​​​​​​​​Register for Event

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​​​​​Housekeeping:

​​​​​​​​​​​Date: Tuesday, 4th November 2025

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Time: Doors open 6pm sharp (early arrivals will be time-warped)

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Venue: 23 Great Smith Street, Westminster. SW1P 3DJ

​​​​​​​​​​​​Refreshments provided 🍷

​​​

​​​A bit more about these meetings:

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​At TNGs, we throw our doors open to Westminster’s finest to enjoy a political discussion over a few glasses of (free) wine. Open to parliamentary staffers, journos, SpAds, consultants, students and even the odd civil servant, TNGs are a place to network, chat, relax and always feature great remarks from our guest speaker. Whatever your politics, we just like interesting ideas and we hope you do too. It’s for under-35s, it’s informal and we normally end up at the Marquis of Granby. ​​​If we reach capacity with RSVPs, we will add you to our waiting list and let you know if a place becomes available.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Please note this event is exclusively for under-35s.

Join us on Thursday, 30th October for a discussion with Professor Carl-Benedikt Frey on the implementation of technology, innovation and progress studies.

​​​We’ll be discussing his new book, How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation and the Fate of Nations.

​​Are economic and technological progress historically inevitable? If you look at the arc of progress over the past millennium, you may think so. But behind all innovations have been agentive individuals and societies that implement technology, rightly and wrongly. Progress is not linear; periods of great technological innovation have frequently been precipitated by social unrest, war and revolution. How can we harness AI, automation, and progress for the greater good, whilst avoiding the mistakes made by societies that failed to do so?

​​​We’re delighted to be joined by Professor Carl-Benedikt Frey, the Dieter Schwarz Associate Professor of AI and Work at the Oxford Internet Institute. Also the Director of the Future of Work Programme at the Oxford Martin School, his previous work includes The Technology Trap (2019) and "The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerization". He is a leading thinker researching the socio-economic impacts of technological innovation.

​​​Doors open at 6pm for a sharp 6.30pm start. There will be a 20-minute address by Professor Frey followed by 15 minutes of Q&A.

​​​​​​​​Register for Event

​​​Housekeeping:
Date: Thursday, 30th October 2025
Time: 6:00-8:00pm (no earlier!)
Where: 23 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3DJ

​​​Refreshments provided 🍷

Join us for our annual Ayn Rand Lecture 2025 with Lance Forman on Wednesday, 22nd October.

​From fighting the European Union as an MEP to running an iconic salmon business, Lance Forman embodies the Randian spirit of independence. In this lecture, Lance will share his battle with the government after it attempted to compulsorily purchase his business, before broadening the discussion to the role of the state in British public life. We often talk about growth, but it is rare to hear directly from the people who are truly responsible for delivering it. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear from Lance and connect with leaders from Westminster, business, and beyond.

​Lance Forman is a former MEP and business leader. Having previously been a Conservative MEP from 2019 - 2020, Lance is the 4th generation CEO of 'H. Forman and Son', one of the country's leading smokeries. With his indomitable work ethic and fierce courage, Lance embodies the Randian spirit of of hard work and individualism.

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​A bit more about these lectures:

​Every year, the Adam Smith Institute hosts the Ayn Rand Lecture to commemorate the work and thought of Ayn Rand. One of the most important writers in liberal thought, Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and her literary contributions have been instrumental in making the case for self-reliance, personal excellence and individualism.

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​​​​​​​​Register for Event

​​​​​Housekeeping:

​​​​​​​​​​​Date: Wednesday, 22nd October 2025

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Time: Doors open 6pm sharp

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Venue: Drapers' Hall, Throgmorton Ave, London EC2N 2DQ

​​​​​​​​​​​​Refreshments provided 🍷

🕺 Join us for another Next Generation drinks on Monday, 13th October! 💡

​​The great thing about modernity is that you can electrify things. Move over acoustic, we've got the electric guitar now; and electric violins. Electrify a corpse and you can make a man again - I learnt that from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, a great medical authority. But, dearest reader, where does electricity come from? Come and learn about the electric birds and electric bees at our next TNG!

​​This month, we’re thrilled to be joined by the Rt. Hon Claire Coutinho MP. The Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Claire has been the Conservative Member of Parliament for East Surrey since 2019. A former investment banker and modern-day Brillat-Savarin, Claire is coming to talk about energy, and how we can reduce the UK's pounds-per-megawatt-hour to help our spluttering economy. Come along!

Register for Event

​​​​Housekeeping:

​​​​​​​​​​Date: Monday, 13th October 2025

​​​​​​​​​​​​Time: Doors open 6pm sharp (early birds will be zapped)

​​​​​​​​​​​​Venue: 23 Great Smith Street, Westminster. SW1P 3DJ

​​​​​​​​​​​Refreshments provided 🍷

​​

​​A bit more about these meetings:

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​At TNGs, we throw our doors open to Westminster’s finest to enjoy a political discussion over a few glasses of (free) wine. Open to parliamentary staffers, journos, SpAds, consultants, students and even the odd civil servant, TNGs are a place to network, chat, relax and always feature great remarks from our guest speaker. Whatever your politics, we just like interesting ideas and we hope you do too. It’s for under-35s, it’s informal and we normally end up at the Marquis of Granby. ​​​If we reach capacity with RSVPs, we will add you to our waiting list and let you know if a place becomes available.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Please note this event is exclusively for under-35s.

Join us at Conservative Party Conference to make the case for freedom.

​Civil liberties in the UK are under threat. Speech is criminalised. Meritocracy is subordinated to identity politics. Bodily autonomy and freedom of choice are on the back-foot. Our open society needs defending.

​Join us to resurrect the Conservative Party's liberal tradition. After all, it was the titanic George Canning, a Conservative Prime Minister, who was the first British politician to describe themselves as 'liberal'...

​​​​​​​​Register for Event

​Housekeeping:

​​​​​​​​​​​​Date: Tuesday, 7th October, 2025

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Time: 8:30pm - 10:00pm

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Venue: Trafford Room, The Midland Hotel, Peter Street, Manchester, M60 2DS

​Speakers include: Rt. Hon. Chris Philp MP, Andrew Griffith MP, Katie Lam MP, Jack Rankin MP, Kevin Hollinrake MP

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Refreshments provided 🍷

Join us for another Enlightenment Evening assessing the Great Depression, the New Deal and current economic policy with Professor George Selgin on Thursday, 2nd October.

​President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, his response to the 1929 financial crash and ensuing Great Depression, is lauded by many as a total victory of government economic policy. Massively expanding the instruments of the state, he created new government bodies and increased public spending.

​But was the New Deal as purely medicinal as consensus makes it out to be? Join us to discuss the ugly truth behind the ensuing unemployment and business failure that followed, and see what lessons we can learn from big-state interventions into economic crises.

​Joining us is Professor George Selgin, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Georgia. A foremost figure in the free-market movement, he is Senior Fellow and Director Emeritus of the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, and has previously taught at George Mason University, the University of Hong Kong, and West Virginia University. He has authored many books and articles on monetary history, macroeconomic theory, and the history of monetary thought.

​​​​​Doors open at 6pm for a sharp 6.30pm start. There will be a 15-minute address by Professor Selgin followed by 10–15 minutes of audience Q&A.

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​​​​​​​​Register for Event

​​​​​Housekeeping:

​​​​​​​​​​​Date: Thursday, 2nd October 2025

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Time: Doors open 6pm sharp (early birds will arrive sans wyrm!)

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Venue: 23 Great Smith Street, Westminster. SW1P 3DJ

​​​​​​​​​​​​Refreshments provided 🍷

Join us at Labour Party Conference to discuss the future of British energy policy.

​​Policy-heads can't stop lamenting that Britain has some of the highest industrial energy costs in Europe. But what can we do about it? Join us to chart the course to 'energy too cheap to metre'.

​In discussion on this panel will be Chris Curtis MP (Labour MP for Milton Keynes North and Co-Leader of the Labour Growth Group), Clementine Cowton (Director of External Affairs at Octopus Energy Group), Ed Hezlet (Head of Energy at the Centre for British Progress) and Maxwell Marlow (Director of Public Affairs at the Adam Smith Institute).

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Register for Event

​​Housekeeping:

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Date: Monday, 29th September, 2025

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Time: 3:00pm - 4:00pm

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Venue: Albert 3, Hilton Hotel, Liverpool, L1 8LW

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Refreshments provided 🍷

Join us at Liberal Democrat Party Conference to discuss the obstacles and solutions for the hospitality industry.

​​​Sky-high energy costs, excessive licensing laws, inhibitive taxes and little freedom to run their businesses as they want are creating a perfect storm against local pub-owners, bar staff and nightclubs. How can we help the hospitality industry, the night-time economy and those who want a good night out?

​​In discussion on this panel will be Paul Kohler MP (Liberal Democrat MP for Wimbledon, Transport Spokesperson and Chair of the Night Time Economy APPG), Caroline Voaden MP (Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon and Vice-Chair of the Hospitality APPG), Luke Cheadle (Public Affairs & Policy Manager at UKHospitality) and Jasper Ostle (Engagement and Operations Manager at the Adam Smith Institute).

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Register for Event

​​​Housekeeping:

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Date: Sunday, 21st September, 2025

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Venue: Meyrick Theatre, International Centre, Exeter Road, Bournemouth, BH2 5BH