Our Autumn Dinner is in the Sish restaurant, just 5 minutes walk from Old Street Tube, Northern Line, Zone 1.

See http://www.shish.com/restaurants/index.htm. A buffet meal will be served with vegetarian options. You can book in advance here; http://www.hackneylibdems.org.uk/events.php. Entry is £10.

A black Liberal politician is on the brink of becoming president of the richest and most powerful nation on Earth.
Yet the contest is close, and if he wins he will take over from a government that has suffered catastrophic failures in both their foreign policy, and more recently in their economic policy.
Barack Obama stands for change, and along the way he has re-energised the US Democrat party, and reached out to previously apathetic sections of the electorate, such as young people and ethnic minorities.
What lessons are there to be learnt for British Liberal Democrats in this epic presidential campaign?
Our speakers for this event are Lord Tom McNally and Matthew Sowemimo.
Matthew Sowemimo is a former Editor of the Reformer and was researcher for the Lib Dem Treasury team. He has a PhD in Political Science. He has studied the rise of African-American politicians in the post-civil rights era, including the opportunities and challenges for candidates at state and national level.

Lord McNally is leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. Before joining the SDP in 1981, he was a foreign policy advisor to the British Prime Minister James Callaghan.