Podcast: Conversations with Coleman

In this episode, Munira and Coleman talk about her early days as a Marxist, her interest in art and museums, her views on Brexit, her views on multiculturalism in the UK, the Israel-Hamas war and Jihadism in general, and much more.

Financial Times, John Thornhill,
Innovation Editor.

“There have been a few great examples of the public and private sectors working well together in Britain: the expansion of the offshore wind turbine industry and the rapid development of the Oxford Covid vaccine, to name but two. But what was striking at the Civic Future event was the seething frustration felt by many of the British participants at the inability of successive governments to help realise this economic potential.”

Substack, Sam Bowman

“I think there is an opportunity to tell the world, tell the markets that investing in productive infrastructure, things that will help boost the economy, are worthwhile and that the UK has a plan to try and deal with economic stagnation.”

Bloomberg, Adrian Wooldridge

“We have a very strong science base, a great start-up culture…and in order to get out of this economic stagnation we have to start thinking about how we use technological innovation and it’s not just about more science brain power, it’s about what politicians and people in public institutions can do to also help boost that science talent that we have.”

City AM, Adam Hawksbee, Onward

“There are many opportunities to turn things around — as long as we take seriously what it means to really prioritise growth and the trade-offs that growth involves. It is not technology by itself that will decide its impact on our lives but the ability of the great twin powers of the state and business to integrate, fund and develop new frontiers of technological change.”

The Spectator, Kate Andrews and Professor Tyler Cowen

“It’s the number one policy problem. If people don’t see their living standards going up. There will be political discontent, other bad decisions will be made… and that’s what we’re seeing. I think that’s why we’re all at this conference, hosted by Civic Future, to figure out what to do”

Andrew Marr on LBC, Munira Mirza,
Chief Executive.

“I think there is an opportunity to tell the world, tell the markets that investing in productive infrastructure, things that will help boost the economy, are worthwhile and that the UK has a plan to try and deal with economic stagnation.”

Munira Mirza, Chief Executive on Times Radio.

“We have a very strong science base, a great start-up culture…and in order to get out of this economic stagnation we have to start thinking about how we use technological innovation and it’s not just about more science brain power, it’s about what politicians and people in public institutions can do to also help boost that science talent that we have.”

The Times, Munira Mirza,
Chief Executive.

“There are many opportunities to turn things around — as long as we take seriously what it means to really prioritise growth and the trade-offs that growth involves. It is not technology by itself that will decide its impact on our lives but the ability of the great twin powers of the state and business to integrate, fund and develop new frontiers of technological change.”

The Times – Sir Trevor Phillips
writer and broadcaster

“The aim of Civic Future is twofold. First, to improve the quality of our leaders by providing what in corporate life we would call CPD — continuing professional development. Most in Westminster and Whitehall are woefully under-prepared. […] the second, even more important aim is to encourage diversity of experience and perspective.”

CityAM – Eliot Wilson
co-founder of Pivot Point

“It is to be hoped that Civic Future will be an idea that encourages others to do the same, in whatever ways they can. Let us recruit from the best and brightest, irrespective of their socio-economic and cultural circumstances, and let us try also to bring in those with talents and qualifications from across the academic and practical spheres.”

Conservative Home – William Atkinson
Assistant Editor of Conservative Home

“The ambition of those New Right think tanks across the pond is to train up the next generation of staffers and wonks for the next Republican government. We should be doing the same. Munira Mirza’s excellent Civic Future initiative is a guide. Nonetheless, that is non-partisan, and rightly so.”

Philip Salter
Founder of The Entrepreneurs Network

“Getting good policies is more than just good ideas. We also need leaders in public life who can put them into practice. Both through Civic Future and other mechanisms, we want to ensure that some of the UK’s latent entrepreneurial talent is applied to the public sector.”

Politico – Matt Honeycombe-Foster
Policy Editor

“The new outfit: Mirza’s launching a new not-for-profit, Civic Future, which is vowing to “open up public life” by training up potential leaders and giving them “the tools to navigate the arcane and often intimidating world of the British  political system.”

Audley – Harry Wynne-Williams
Director at Audley

“The effort to bring skills and diverse talent into politics is commendable, as the limitations of ‘career politicians’ are regularly revealed […] The Fellowship selection is competitive and one wonders who might now come forward, who might otherwise have been deterred by the ways of the Westminster village.”

Conservative Home – William Atkinson
Assistant Editor of Conservative Home

“Ensuring our politicians have a deeper theoretical and practical understanding of their profession – and come from a wider set of backgrounds than Oxbridge, PPE, Tufton Street, and ministerial bag-carrying – can only be a good thing. People of all parties – and none – should be cheering her efforts on.”

The Times, Munira Mirza
Chief Executive of Civic Future

“We believe that to make public institutions and government more effective, Britain needs a much stronger talent pipeline that will attract and equip candidates with both a theoretical and practical understanding of how politics works — and how it can be improved.”

BBC Radio 4’s Today programme
interview with Munira Mirza
Chief Executive of Civic Future

“Public life in its broadest sense there are hundreds, thousands of jobs where people are making decisions that affect millions of us around the country and the aim of this organisation is to try and encourage more talented people, people from different backgrounds to go into those roles. At the moment we have a problem many people are put off going into politics and public life and this is designed to encourage more people to consider that.”

New Statesman, Munira Mirza
Chief Executive of Civic Future

“Munira Mirza, once known as “Boris Johnson’s brain”, wants to avoid controversy and change the way we do politics.”

The Telegraph – Jemima Lewis
Telegraph columnist

“Civic Future will offer fellowships, training in skills and the opportunity to think deeply about values and philosophy. It points specifically to economic and scientific literacy and crisis management, but we can all think of competences in which our leaders have been found lacking as we have faced the financial crisis, then Brexit, then the pandemic. Surely, if we could not only promote these kinds of skills, but also open up the government—both political and official—to broader participation, it would equip the nation better to move forward.”