44th Annual Police Conference at Cumberland Lodge

Division, Distrust and Disorder: Policing Polarisation in Modern Society

Confirmed speakers: 

• Professor Quassim Cassam - University of Warwick
• Sir Mark Rowley - Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis
• Lord Michael Gove 
• Sir Stephen Watson - Chief Constable, Greater Manchester Police
• Professor Bobby Duffy - Kings College London
• Rebecca Skippage - Former BBC Global Disinformation Editor
• Dr Daniel Allington - Senior Associate Fellow at the Counter Extremism Group
• Assistant Chief Constable Arman Mathieson, NPCC Lead for Information Disorder 
• Baroness Fox of Buckley
• Chief Constable Gavin Stephens - Chair, NPCC
• Emily Spurrell - PCC for Merseyside and APCC Chair
• Festus Akinbusoye - Former PCC and Director, Themis Analytica 
• Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb
  
• Sir George Hamilton 
• Chief Constable Maggie Blyth
• Ian Acheson
• Alex Murray
• Frances Lasok
• Kurtis Christoforides
• Andrew Gilligan 
• Chris Nelson 
• Rick Muir 
• Sir Tom Winsor 
• Richard Chambers 

The political and social views of the British public are fragmenting and reconfiguring in complex and volatile ways. A decade on from the Brexit referendum, over five years after the Covid pandemic, and against a backdrop of international conflict, falling living standards and mass migration, traditional political divisions are being replaced by a disparate and divisive set of social tensions and anxieties, which the police inevitably find themselves called upon to referee and ameliorate.

Some of these present new public order challenges, whether the events originate on the street, or online, and provide new flashpoints for street protest and intimidation of communities. The speed and scale of trends fueling this social division and the complexity of a disordered information environment make these challenges especially difficult for the police to navigate.

Recent research sheds light on the drivers of these shifting fault lines: a crisis of trust in our political and social institutions, exhaustion with protracted political chaos, economic stagnation and private cost of living struggles, growing perceptions of insecurity and threat, and loss of agency at both individual and national levels. The diagnosis of a Shattered Britain is both compelling and cautionary.

The 2026 Cumberland Lodge Police conference will explore the sometimes seemingly impossible task of policing Shattered Britain, and invite discussion on how our traditional views of the police role can cope with these new pressures, addressing questions such as:

• How can policing make sense of the complex societal shifts taking place in today’s Britain?
• What is the state of trust and confidence in the police?
• How valid is the critique of ‘two tier’ policing and how should the police respond?
• What is the role of the police in this more polarised and fractious social context?
• What extremism risks and public order dangers are upon us and how well placed are the police to respond to them?
• How are online disinformation and misinformation shaping discord and division and undermining trust among fellow citizens and the police?
• Can old ideas about discretion and policing by consent be applied to today’s widely contested areas of law, such as hate speech and online disputes?
• What do today’s public really want in terms of a response from the police – on the street, and online?
• How should harms be countered in online environments and what role, if any, is there for traditional policing?
• What are some examples of successful practice when it comes to tackling threats to public order and community cohesion?
• What benefits can local leadership and neighbourhood policing bring to the new challenges of protest and division?

This renowned conference convenes an influential, cross-sector gathering of speakers and delegates to stimulate fresh thinking on key issues in policing.

The conference is shaped by our expert Police Conference Steering Committee, chaired by Chief Constable Jason Hogg, Thames Valley Police, and is organised by the Police Foundation.

Participation is by invitation-only and participants are expected to attend the whole conference. The price of the Conference is £595.00+VAT including accommodation onsite in the former Royal residence and all meals throughout the duration of conference.