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British politics

January 18, 2024

🔮 The next UK election is a done deal… unless the populist left steps in

Edward Goodger In the UK, consistent double-digit leads in the polls suggest that Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is now a government-in-waiting. But has Labour’s abandonment of radical leftism left it vulnerable? Edward Goodger explores the prospect of a populist-left resurgence and its potential to transform the approaching general election Read more
October 5, 2023

Why ‘levelling up’ in the UK has so far failed – and what a Labour government might do about it

Jack Newman Jack Newman, Simon Collinson, Nigel Driffield, Nigel Gilbert and Charlotte Hoole argue that the real solutions to the failings of the Conservative government’s levelling-up agenda in the UK lie in governance and not just investment. This is a lesson the Labour Party, as likely winner of the next election, should learn Read more
September 29, 2023

Brexit and the 'Merkel myth'

Karl Pike When it came to Brexit, many British political actors placed far too much weight on Germany and its former Chancellor. Karl Pike and Tim Bale explore what they call the ‘Merkel myth’ and how it affected the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union Read more
October 6, 2022

Rules of thumb can lead to politicians misjudging voters' reactions

Chris Butler Decision-makers need to be able to judge how voters will react to a policy. It is important for their continued electoral success, and for the success of the policy. Yet, write Chris Butler and Barbara Vis, systematic biases often lead policymakers to misjudge voters’ reactions to their policy decisions Read more
September 16, 2022

Nostalgia and anti-nostalgia in the Brexit narrative

Francesca Melhuish We often consider nostalgia – the emotional sense that things were better in the past – as the opposite of future orientation. But nostalgia’s relationship with time is more complicated. Francesca Melhuish explores this relationship as it relates to Brexit, and how it helps us to understand the emotional appeal of temporal narratives of the nation Read more
June 22, 2022

Westminster has a moral obligation to allow a second Scottish independence referendum

Ruairidh Brown The first obstacle in holding an Independence Referendum is assuring its legitimacy. To do so, says Ruairidh Brown, the SNP-Green alliance have implied the UK Government has no moral authority to deny Scots a choice on their future Read more
November 23, 2021

How second jobs change MPs’ behaviour in parliament

Simon Weschle The UK government is embroiled in a sleaze scandal after a Conservative Member of Parliament was found to have lobbied for a company in which he held a second job. Simon Weschle argues that these jobs have systematic consequences for how legislators behave in parliament — some problematic, some not Read more
November 3, 2021

Boris Johnson wants net zero by 2050. Are his voters behind him?

Tim Bale The UK may be in the limelight at COP26, with the government having set highly ambitious targets for net zero by 2050. But, Tim Bale argues, evidence suggests that parts of the British electorate – largely Tory supporters – may be sceptical about the merits of the policy Read more

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Advancing Political Science
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