Integrity in Public Life

‘The insightfulness of these essays cannot be exaggerated. They deserve the closest attention by both individuals and institutions’
Church Times

‘ This collection of thoughtful and thought-provoking essays reminds us that there are no easy answers. Those in public life and all of us who depend on them will benefit from its insights.’
Dr Nicholas Allen

Good governance is one of the UK’s fundamental values, and citizens are entitled to expect that public officials behave in according to the highest ethical standards.

But what does integrity mean in public life? And what part does it have to play in Britain’s constitution? This book considers the place and meaning of integrity in the individual public servant, in public service institutions, and in the wider public they purport to serve. It also explores how people in public service institutions can cease to behave with humanity when those institutions deny the humanity of the individual.

Together, the authors argue for  the critical importance of institutions in upholding values when fallible humans for get them.

CLAIRE FOSTER-GILBERT  is the founder director of the Westminster Abbey Institute. A current and former member of numerous ethic committees, Dr Foster-Gilbert has played an instrumental role in the medical research ethics field, and has led efforts to shift the Church’s thinking on environmental issues.

VERNON WHITE was Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey from June 2011 until October 2018 and is a Visiting Professor at King’s College London. Canon White was a member of the steering group for the Westminster Abbey Institute since its inception in 2013 and, from 2016, also served as Sub-Dean.

JANE SINCLAIR is Rector of St Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey and chair of Westminster Abbey Institute. She was installed as a Canon of Westminster in September 2014. Previously she was Archdeacon of Stow and Lindsey (Diocese of Lincoln) and has worked in parish and cathedral ministry and in theological education.

Published with the Westminster Abbey Institute.