History
IPPR was the brainchild of Lord Hollick, who developed the idea for an independent progressive think tank in 1986. With Lord Eatwell, Lord Hollick spent two years establishing the institute, which was publicly launched in 1988 with Tessa Blackstone as its first chair and James Cornford as its first director.
One of its first reports recommended congestion charging for London and since then IPPR has been at the forefront of progressive policy development.
In the wake of Labour’s fourth successive general election defeat in 1992, IPPR led the groundbreaking Commission on Social Justice, which helped to revitalise centre-left thinking and lay the ground work for Labour’s election victory in 1997. Tony Blair said of the report 'it will provide the basis for a vital national debate about the future of work and welfare. It is essential reading for everyone who wants a new way forward for our country.'
The secretary of the commission was David Miliband, one of many distinguished alumni of IPPR, who also include former Labour cabinet minister Patricia Hewitt and rising MPs Liz Kendall, Rushanara Ali and Tristram Hunt.
IPPR’s profile grew under the directorships of Gerald Holtham (1994-1998), Matthew Taylor (1999-2003) and Nick Pearce (2003-2007), with Sir Chris Powell serving for much of this time as chair. During these years, IPPR led thinking on devolution, elected mayors, family-friendly working, asset-based welfare, and public service reform. IPPR North was established in 2004, with an office opening in Newcastle.
IPPR was the winner of the prestigious Prospect Think Tank of the Year award in 2001 and in 2007 became the first repeat winner.
When Nick Pearce left to become Head of the Number 10 Policy Unit, Lisa Harker and Carey Oppenheim took over as co-directors (2007-2010). Among the notable achievements of that period was the highly influential Commission on National Security for the 21st Century, chaired by Lord Paddy Ashdown and Lord George Robertson. The commission's report was described by the former chancellor, foreign secretary and deputy Prime Minister, Lord Geoffrey Howe as: 'the most lucid and impressive analysis of what is happening in the world I have seen, despite ten years in the Cabinet.'
In 2009, IPPR turned 21 and won the Green Think Tank of the year award for its groundbreaking work on climate change.
John Makinson, chairman and chief executive of the Penguin Group, served as chair of IPPR from 2007 until 2010, when former work and pensions secretary James Purnell took over, marking his return to IPPR, where he had worked as researcher nearly 20 years earlier.
Nick Pearce returned as Director in September 2010.
Read more about this topic: Institute For Public Policy Research
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“... all big changes in human history have been arrived at slowly and through many compromises.”
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“In the history of the United States, there is no continuity at all. You can cut through it anywhere and nothing on this side of the cut has anything to do with anything on the other side.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)