Romanes Lecture

Speaker: Mishal Husain

Lecture Title: Empire, Identity and the Search for Reason

When Gladstone delivered the first Romanes Lecture in the wake of the 1892 General Election, he was just beginning his fourth - and final - term as Prime Minister. With him in Parliament, among the ranks of his Liberal MPs, was one notable new face: Dadabhai Naoroji, the first Asian to be elected to serve in the House of Commons. 

133 years later, the 2025 Lecture will be given by journalist Mishal Husain, also of Asian heritage, whose memoir ‘Broken Threads’ charted a family story of India and Pakistan. 

She will explore the symbolism of Naoroji’s election and the cause that brought him into politics: the poverty gap between his native India and Britain. His critique of Empire influenced two younger men, Gandhi and Jinnah. who had come to study in England in that period and witnessed Naoroji's rise. Both would go on to shape 20th century South Asia. 

Husain will look at narratives of identity, both historical and contemporary, and portrayals of communities and conflicts. 

And she will contrast the present time with the more hopeful period in which she began her career in the 1990s, when the end of the Cold War held the promise of a more settled, peaceful world order. In an age of contested facts and clickbait she will argue for depth and reason, using examples from her own faith and heritage to show that such an approach is part of both East and West. 

Biography

Mishal Husain is Editor-at-Large at Bloomberg Weekend, where her weekly interviews since May 2025 have ranged from Elon Musk and Keir Starmer to ‘Succession’ writer Jesse Armstrong and UN AIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima. This ethos of a global guest list spanning politics, business, culture and thought leaders, will develop into a visualised podcast later this year.

After a near 30-year career in media, she won the Charles Wheeler Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Journalism in 2024. She has written two books, the Sunday Times bestseller ‘Broken Threads: A Family from Empire to Independence’ and ‘The Skills: How to Win at Work.’ She spent many years at the BBC, where she presented the ‘Today’ programme on Radio 4, the main television news on BBC1, and had an international presence on BBC World. She has reported from around the world and presented live on location, including New York after 9/11, Washington through the Iraq War, Beijing for the 2008 Olympics and Pakistan after the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

She covered the 2011 Arab uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East and the election that brought Prime Minister Modi to power in India. In 2014 she was the first reporter to enter the school attacked by the Taliban in the Pakistani city of Peshawar. As an interviewer she is known for high-profile conversations, from Aung San Suu Kyi to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, but also for bringing out powerful personal stories. She has covered elections and referendums and in 2024 hosted two live leaders’ debates on BBC TV, including the contenders for Prime Minister going head to head days before the UK voted.

She has also fronted documentaries: a three-part series on the life of Mahatma Gandhi in 2008, an investigation of social media and the ‘Arab Spring’ in 2011, a one-hour special on Malala Yousafzai in 2013, and ‘The Longest Reign’, about the life of the late Queen Elizabeth. On the BBC she was also known for coverage of major royal events, from the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth and the coronation of King Charles. The London Press Club has twice named her Broadcaster of the Year, most recently in 2024.

About Romanes Lecture

The Romanes Lecture is the annual public lecture of the University. A most distinguished public figure from the arts, science or literature is invited by special invitation of the Vice-Chancellor. The lecture was created in 1891, following an offer by George John Romanes of Christ Church to fund an annual lecture, and the first lecture was given in 1892 by William Gladstone.

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