Book launch: An Uneasy Inheritance by Polly Toynbee

While for generations Polly Toynbee’s ancestors have been committed left-wing rabble-rousers railing against injustice, they could never claim to be working class, settling instead for the prosperous life of academia or journalism enjoyed by their own forebears. So where does that leave their ideals of class equality?

Through a colourful, entertaining examination of her own family – which in addition to her writer father Philip and her historian grandfather Arnold contains everyone from the Glenconners to Jessica Mitford to Bertrand Russell, and features ancestral home Castle Howard as a backdrop – Toynbee explores the myth of mobility, the guilt of privilege, and asks for a truly honest conversation about class in Britain.

Polly Toynbee is a Journalist, Author and Broadcaster. Primarily writing for the Guardian, she has also written for The Observer, The Independent and Radio Times. She has won numerous awards including a National Press Award and has been What the Papers Say ‘Columnist of the Year’.

At this event, Toynbee was joined by Dr Tom O'Grady, Associate Professor of Political Science at UCL, Marc Stears, Director of the UCL Policy Lab, and Harry Quilter-Pinner, Director of Research and Engagement at IPPR, who together discussed Toynbee's new book and explored the role of class, mobility and privilege in the UK.

Watch the recording of the event below.