The Bournemouth Carnival of Alternative Politics

From the founders of the Good Funeral Awards , the UK Speechwriters' Guild and the Ideal Death Show...A New Political Conference

There's always been a link between politics and carnival.

Carnival gives us permission to question convention, laugh at pomposity and celebrate creative disruption.

On the Saturday before Lent, we're hosting a day of lively debate, irreverent speech and heretical ideas by the sea.

Think Rocky Horror Show meets the council of Runnymede.

Or The Idler Festival meets the Battle of Ideas.

At the spiritual home of Britain's annual political conferences, we'll bring together the mainstream and the marginal, the old and the new, the top and the bottom.

Serious politics will be combined with light entertainment.

We'll mix it all up to create a day that will motivate you to participate rather than standing on the sidelines.

Unlike other conferences, we choose speakers on the basis of their powerful ideas or their outstanding public speaking abilities.

Let's celebrate just some of the joys of living in 2026:

• Losing our jobs to technological innovation
• Confinement to our Netflix caves
• Running out of money
• Navigating a disintegrating political system
• Sharing our homes with adult children
• Being conscripted into a global war
• The medicalisation, atomisation and commercialisation of everything
• The impossibility of imagining a better future
  

And yet..and yet.. somehow we're alive and capable of changing ourselves and the world.

Hear new voices, discover new ideas, meet new people, share Utopian visions, then lose hope and get drunk.

Check your status at the door and join us for the perfect antidote to inhibited political discourse.

Revolution is brewing! You're going to need a new outfit.

Feel free to dress as the political figure you most admire or for the era you'd like to go back to.

Celebrate in Bournemouth's illustrious Freemason's Hall, a venue that screams 'underground cabal' but offers ample parking, gorgeous rooms and a well-stocked bar.

At the end of the day we'll discover there's no political difference that can't be resolved over a few pints of beer, excellent food and some lewd entertainment.

Click here to download the provisional agenda.

SPEAKERS

Speakers will be added as we recruit them. Obviously we may get cancellations, but we'll do our best to deliver what we promise.

Oliver Cromwell

The popular revolutionary will return to deliver his famous speech: Dissolving the Rump Parliament from 1653.

Steffan Aquarone MP

Steffan is the Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk. Before he entered politics, Steffan was an entrepreneur and film producer. In September 2025 he became Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party. He is seen as one of the rising stars of the new intake of MPs.

Kevin Toolis

Kevin worked as a journalist in the House of Commons as a press gallery reporter and then reported on political conflicts and terrorism for publications including The New York Times, The Guardian and The Daily Mirror.

Lewis Baston

Lewis is an eminent psephologist and author. His most recent book is Borderlines, A History of Europe Told from the Edges. It is about the ghosts that linger over disputed European territories. Lewis was also the biographer of former Conservative Chancellor, Reginald Maudling.

Alex Klaushofer

Alex is an author and journalist with a career in two halves, the first covering social affairs and public policy for the likes of the Guardian and the second chronicling the rise of Dystopian Britain for the Spectator and on Substack.

She holds a PhD in philosophy which sowed the seeds for a lifelong interest in authoritarianism.

Guy Doza

Guy is a professional speechwriter, teacher and the author of two books, How to Apologise for Killing a Cat, and The Language of Evil, How Dictators Manipulate the Masses. He will be giving a humorous talk on how dictators take and hold on to power.

Paul Anthony Jones

Paul is a Bournemouth-based committed social democrat, former academic, and aspiring satirist whose work bridges intellect and wit.

With a background in higher education and a passion for progressive politics, he brings a thoughtful yet irreverent voice to contemporary debates. Paul’s work explores the intersection of policy, culture, and humour - challenging conventions while championing social justice and democratic ideals.

This event has been inspired by the memory of prolific writer and social theorist David Boyle . David championed many innovative political ideas in his books. David's work had one broad theme: "the importance of human-scale institutions over centralised ones, human imagination over dull rationalism, and the human spirit over technocratic reduction."

David died in June 2025 after a long illness. Many of his ideas are yet to be tried...

Carnival is something that people create and and generate for themselves.
Mikhail Bakhtin

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Terms & Conditions

The purpose of the Carnival of Alternative Politics is to give a platform to lively and eloquent speakers and to create formats where their ideas can be evaluated and challenged.

The conference is designed to be light-hearted so paying customers can get out the house and spend a day listening to stimulating talks, contributing their own views and meeting like-minded people.

The events are sustained by the talent of the speakers and the financial contributions of the people who want to listen to them.

As far as possible the events will provide a broad spectrum of opinion, but the main criteria is, will people pay the price of a ticket to attend? Can we cover the travel expenses of the speakers? Can we cover our own expenses and generate enough profit to pay for the next one?

All speakers must negotiate the terms of their own appearance and get an agreement in writing.

Speakers must observe decorum, this means that the style, language, and content of contributions needs to be fitting for the subject, audience and occasion.

The audience may include people under 18. If speakers go over time, use bad language or make offensive statements, they will not be invited back.

Anyone can apply to be a speaker, the only condition is that they must have attended an event before applying. Otherwise they have to wait for an invitation.

The Carnival of Alternative Politics is organised by Brian Jenner.

Brian Jenner is a professional speechwriter and event organiser. He is the founder of the UK Speechwriters’ Guild and the European Speechwriter Network, which has organised 24 conferences over the past 16 years in locations all over Europe. He was also involved in organising BoMoCreatives, Conurbation 2050, the Good Funeral Awards and the Ideal Death Show.

Funds for the Carnival are processed through an account called CombtheBeach. CombtheBeach is a not-for-loss business. It is not a charity, a political organisation, or a partnership. It is managed through a sole trader account owned and administered by Brian Jenner. It has no overdraft facility.