David Evans (1979) - Visit to St. Olave's (by Aayush Kampani Yr10)
Thursday, 27 April 2023
On the 21st March 2023, St Olave’s welcomed Old Olavian Mr David Evans to give a talk to students. We welcomed 80 students across all years as part of Political Awareness Week, a student-found initiative designed to enhance students’ interest in politics and understand their role in politics. Mr Evans attended St Olave’s between 1972 and 1979 and through bringing his wisdom to the forefront of Olavian minds, students were inspired by a truly synoptic talk on the importance of politics in society and Mr Evans’ career, culminating in his recent appointment as the General Secretary of the Labour Party in May 2020. Working as the General Secretary of the Labour Party, Mr Evans is responsible for the 400 staff who ensure Labour’s finances are secured and that the party is fully compliant with the law.  Following his talk, the students organising the event, Aayush, Hugo and Eythan, interviewed Mr Evans
 
To commence the talk, Mr Evans discerningly argued how our two-party democracy is something students of St Olave’s should value and cherish. He described his experience working in Egypt before the Spring Revolutions and in Zagreb, where NGO firms such as the ones Mr Evans worked in were not able to contact the police who were closely aligned with very right-wing governments. Mr Evans then reinforced the need of our two-party state to represent a fair democracy that would continue to thrive and better itself. Moreover, though politics may be the only job in which you may ever be able to overtly attack your opponents, having led a cross party consultancy firm looking at behavioural change, Mr Evans stressed the importance of the passion and perseverance which all politicians must demonstrate to achieve their vision of the Earth.
 
For students, it was ultimately Mr Evans’ passion for politics from a young age that seemed to stand out after the talk, and how his career evolved. This combined with the idea Mr Evans was once also a student at St Olave’s inspired students further to think about where they could be soon. It may be memorable to many who attended the talk that Mr Evans’ interest in politics started in Orpington High Street outside Barclay’s Bank, rallying against Apartheid in South Africa. Mr Evans also saw the consequences of such inequality on a personal level, when his brother was bullied because of a learning disability. Ever since then, Mr Evans has advocated for the importance of giving everyone a voice and is passionate that people are not hamstrung by social mobility or other inbuilt barriers that prevent certain types of people from having a voice. Through this drive and passion for tackling prejudice, Mr Evans first cut his teeth into politics in the 1980s, shortly after Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister. His career started as a Trade Union Liaison Officer for the Croydon Trades Council and by 1994 Mr Evans progressed to become the Regional Director of Labour Northwest, and then from 1999, Assistant General Director. In 2001, Mr Evans was the founder and director of the Campaign Company, a cross party consultancy company, before becoming the Labour Party General Secretary.
 
Closer to St Olave’s, during his interview, Mr Evans recollected his fond times at St Olave’s, not least to mention Mr Dennis Wiseman being his favourite teacher in school and practicing with his band in the school chapel. The pranks and jokes which Mr Evans recollected during school visits highlighted the enjoyable experience he had with St Olave’s and drawing key life skills and friends from the school, ultimately forming the foundation of his successful career.

(The main picture is (L-R) Hugo Maxwell, David Evans, Aayush Kampani and Eythan Soysa)