History & Policy

Workers in the Boardroom: worker directors and lessons from history 10 December 2016 - 11:00 am - 13:00 pm Lecture Theatre S-1.04, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS "The people who run big businesses are supposed to be accountable to outsiders, to non-executive directors, who are supposed to ask the difficult questions, think about the long-term and defend the interests of shareholders. In practice, they are drawn from the same, narrow social and professional circles as the executive team and – as we have seen time and time again – the scrutiny they provide is just not good enough. So if I’m Prime Minister, we’re going to change that system – and we’re going to have not just consumers represented on company boards, but employees as well." These were Theresa May's words as she launched her bid for leadership of the Conservative Party on 11 July 2016. At the time her speech was thought to mark a departure from traditional Tory themes - but what is the history of the idea of the worker on the bo