Born to Rule: The Making and Remaking of the British Elite. 

Think of the British elite and familiar caricatures spring to mind. But are today’s power brokers a conservative chumocracy, born to privilege and anointed at Eton and Oxford? Or is a new progressive elite emerging with different values and political instincts? And, are these caricatures true of elites in every part of the United Kingdom or do they vary across the constituent nations? 

Aaron Reeves is a Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics. His work studies the causes and consequences of social inequality, with a focus on the political economy of health, welfare reform and processes of elite formation. His latest book – Born to Rule: The Making and Remaking of the British Elite – was published by Harvard University Press in 2024. 

This event was held on Thursday, 25th September 2025 at Ulster University, as part of the ARK@25 celebrations.