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Do Leaders make a Difference?We talk much of personal leadership being the key to change in, say, politics or business. But how much can such figures really influence events? Do we overattribute power to individuals such as a prime minister or a media mogul? Have we lost sight of the overall importance of collective action and attitudes, or the trends and events that no individual can resist? Michael Blastland investigates. Producer: Chris Bowlby Editor: Innes BowenContributors:Nick Chater Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business SchoolProfessor Pat Thane Historian at King's College LondonChris Dillow Writer on economics and psychologyAngela Knight Chief Executive of the British Bankers' AssociationTristram Hunt Historian and Labour MPJerker Denrell Professor of strategy and decision making at Oxford University's Saïd Business SchoolLord Baker Former Conservative Home SecretaryAndrew Roberts Historical and biographical writer.

The 2010 general election saw the largest influx of black and minority ethnic MPs to the Commons that Britain has ever seen. There are currently 27 sitting on the Conservative and Labour benches - up from 14 in the last Parliament.But are we starting to see a 'new black politics'? Some suggest that the radical left-wing politics of the 1980s is no longer relevant in twenty-first century Britain, where there is a growing black middle class, a multitude of different black communities, and where black people are represented at the highest levels.David Goodhart meets the black politicians adopting a more socially conservative standpoint to their predecessors and also talks to their critics: those who say that some of the country's most vulnerable people have been forgotten by the establishment; that institutionalised racism still exists; and that many of today's politicians do not represent the people they are meant to serve. Interviewees include: David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham Shaun Bailey, former Conservative parliamentary candidate Linda Bellos OBE, leader of Lambeth Council 1986-1988 Bill Bush, chief of staff to GLC leader Ken Livingstone until 1986 Trevor Phillips OBE, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Kwasi Kwarteng, Conservative MP for Spelthorne Stafford Scott, race equality consultant in TottenhamDavid Goodhart is editor at large of Prospect magazine and was recently appointed as director of the think tank Demos.Producer: Hannah Barnes.

Frances Stonor Saunders looks at the role of cultural diplomacy in spreading liberal British values around the world.The British Council and the BBC World Service, both part-funded by the Foreign Office, are the two most important institutions of British cultural diplomacy.The British Council organises exhibitions and events at its offices around the world with artists such as Grayson Perry. He feels that the fact his work deals with controversial themes is part of his attraction for the cultural diplomats keen to convey the values of liberalism by saying, "Look what we put up with in our country: a cross-dressing potter who's talking about the evils of advertising."The BBC World Service is editorially independent but is funded by the Foreign Office.Frances Stonor Saunders explores the tension between the fact that cultural diplomacy has an official purpose yet the endeavours it seeks to promote need to maintain freedom and independence as a mark of a liberal society.Contributors include Grayson Perry, Timothy Garton Ash and Sir Sherard Cowper Coles.