Five times 15.
Our first speaker tonight is.
We're really proud because I think this is one of the few events that he's doing for his new book.
Lord Jonathan Sumption,
who was supreme court justice between two 2012 and 2018 and has been described many times as the cleverest man in Britain.
He has certainly, while being a Lord Chief justice,
he managed to write a five volume work on the Hundred Years War which is apparently sensational
if you know about these things,
which I don't, but I will take it as Reg.
But he's certainly a tremendous voice and a part in this land and his new book is called the Challenges of Democracy and it could not have come at a better time.
So please give him a big welcome.
Well, good evening everyone.
The book sets out to do exactly what it says on the tin to try to understand why faith in democracy has declined even in the oldest and most successful democracies.
Until a generation ago,
nobody ever asked that question because nobody really questioned the value of democracy.
Apart from a handful of cranks and extremists.
However,
every poll successively points to a declining faith in democracy and has done for quite a number of years,
and a growing contempt for politicians that has resulted in the travails of democracy moving to the top of the agenda.
That is a problem.