. It has been delivered by an influential business or political figure almost every year since
(with gaps in 1981, 1991 and 1993).
| Year
| Title
| Speaker
| Speaker's position
| Transcript |
| 2007
| A DNA-Driven World
| Craig Venter
| Gene pioneer
|
|
| 2006
| Defence of the Realm in the 21st Century
| General Sir Mike Jackson
| Former Chief of the General Staff
|
|
| 2005
| What Kind of Police Service Do We Want?
| Sir Ian Blair
| Metropolitan Police Commissioner
| , |
| 2004
| Engineering the Difference
| James Dyson
| Vacuum cleaner tycoon
| |
| 2003
| The path towards a new world
| Dominique de Villepin
| French foreign minister
| , , |
| 2002
| Nations, Markets and Morals
| Dr Rowan Williams
| Archbishop of Canterbury
| |
| 2001
| The Struggle For The Soul of The 21st Century
| Bill Clinton
| Former President of the United States of America
| |
| 2000
| Who's Afraid of Modern Art
| Sir Nicholas Serota
| Director of the Tate Gallery
| |
| 1999
| The Future Could be Too Much Fun
| Susan Greenfield
| Professor of pharmacology
| |
| 1998
| Principles of Peace
| George J. Mitchell
| Former U.S. Senator and chair of the talks leading to the Belfast Agreement
| |
| 1997
| Public Life, Public Confidence
| Lord Nolan
| Former law lord
| |
| 1996
| Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder
| Richard Dawkins
| Professor of biology
| |
| 1994
| Security and Democracy - Is There a Conflict?
| Stella Rimington
| Director-general of MI5
| |
| 1992
| The Judiciary in the Nineties
| Lord Taylor of Gosforth
| Lord Chief Justice
| |
| 1990
| Europe in the Nineties
| Helmut Schmidt
| Former Chancellor of Germany
| |
| 1989
| Living Off the Land
| Prince Philip
| Duke of Edinburgh
| |
| 1988
| Knowledge Itself is Power
| Sir George Porter
| Professor of chemistry
| |
| 1987
| British Television: Who are the Masters Now?
| Sir Denis Forman
| Deputy Chairman of the Granada Group |
| 1986
| Does Industry Matter?
| Sir John Harvey-Jones
| Former chairman of ICI
| |
| 1985
| Teacher, Teach Thyself
| Baroness Warnock
| Professor of philosophy
| |
| 1984
| The Other Britain
| David Sheppard
| Bishop of Liverpool and cricket umpire
| |
| 1983
| Missing Our Connections
| Sir Peter Parker
| Former chairman of British Railways Board
| |
| 1982
| Irish Identities
| Garret FitzGerald
| Former (and later, again) Taoiseach of Ireland
| |
| 1980
| Misuse of Power
| Lord Denning
| Master of the Rolls
| |
| 1979
| Home Thoughts from Abroad
| Roy Jenkins
| President of the European Commission
| |
| 1978
| Risk
| Lord Rothschild
| Zoologist and security adviser
| |
| 1977
| The Human Face of Labour
| Jack Jones
| Former general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union
| |
| 1976
| Elective Dictatorship
| Lord Hailsham
| Former (and later, again) Lord Chancellor
| |
| 1975
| The British Experience in Television
| Sir Huw Wheldon
| Broadcaster
| |
| 1974
| Housing - Who is to Blame?
| Lord Goodman
| Former chairman of the Arts Council
| |
| 1973
| Minority Verdict
| Sir Robert Mark
| Metropolitan Police Commissioner
| |
| 1972
| What are Universities for, Anyway?
| Lord Annan
| Provost of University College, London
| |