QMUL is advertising an exciting opportunity: a fully funded PhD studentship, working on European politics, ideology, and political 'myths' with @karlpike.bsky.social and @timbale.bsky.social. Details below.
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRB421/p...
Me and @ameakin.bsky.social had the best time doing this research. We spoke to some amazing MPs, saw their huge levels of commitment to constituents in the pandemic & got to write about the need to include small parties in decision making: a win win! Thank you so much @psrjournal.bsky.social
🎆🎆Congratulations to our Best Research Article 2025 Award Winners!🎆🎆
@louisevthompson.bsky.social & @ameakin.bsky.social
You can read this award winning article here:
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social
Me - a ginger woman in her 40s running up a big hill, while her 3yo daughter, with ginger bunches, holds up a "go mummy go" sign
An elevation chart from the Sheffield Half Marathon. There's a massive hill in the first half.
Running my 10th half marathon but the first one since my youngest was born. Finding time to train in between work/two young kids is pretty tough but it meant I had the best cheerleaders up the hills ❤️ #SheffieldHalfMarathon (repping #ReadingFC even though wearing blue and white is a risk up here!)
Would explain a lot if the Morgan McSweeney phone thief had been running government comms since October
The greatest Championship team of all time youtu.be/pT4sqNaPnaQ?... #ReadingFC
It's been A Day so spending my commute home remembering what I was doing exactly 20 years ago today #ReadingFC youtu.be/oqeZQ70L4fU?...
The latest edition of our triannual constitutional review is now available!
Monitor 92 calls for 'bold action to renew the health of democracy' and explores the constitutional comings and goings of the last four months.
Read it 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo....
Or browse our thread 👇
A job advert for the Institute for Government research internships for 2026-27. Six one-year full time internships starting in September 2026. Salary: £32,000 Deadline: Tuesday 7 April, 10:00
Interested in making government more effective? Applications for our 2026–27 research internship programme are now open!
Closing date: Tuesday 7 April, 10:00am ⏰
Find out more 👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/about-us/car...
I grew up in this community and I have a few thoughts I want to share.
A short thread.
www.jewishnews.co.uk/breaking-hat...
Destroying ambulances run by a Jewish group does not make you a good person: it makes you an anti-semite. And wanging on about "but Israel" as you seek to defend destroying ambulances run by a Jewish group similarly makes you an anti-semite.
Exciting: committee convenors in the Scottish Parliament will now be elected.
www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-...
On 20 March 1413, Henry IV died.
Unlike modern convention, the death of a sovereign in medieval England brought sitting Parliaments to a close, as Dr Hannes Kleineke explains after the demise of Henry IV.
Hundreds of thousands of Muslims fought in the world wars. The armies that fought+won the second world war against fascism had an ethnic + faith mix that matches the Britain of 2025 more than that of 1939-45, so arrival of Windrush is the story of black RAF servicemen returning to Britain in 1948
Always use the mic! Even if you are Brian Blessed, you need to use the mic. The microphone will support the hearing loop - it doesn't matter how loud your voice is or how admirable your projection, it needs to be picked up by the hearing loop for anyone using a hearing aid. 1/
Very pleased to see our article on backbench roles in the HoC published in @hansardsociety.bsky.social Parliamentary Affairs.
@carolinebha.bsky.social @socialpolicy.bsky.social & I group MPs by activity across 26 measures, identifying 7 roles.
It's free to read!
academic.oup.com/pa/advance-a...
Rachel Reeves in front of a large black and white photo of Alice Bacon campaigning in Leeds
Frances O'Grady in front of a large black and white photo of Alice Bacon campaigning in Leeds
Another brilliant Alice Bacon lecture organised by @cdpleeds.bsky.social! Super inspiring having the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer introduce a talk from the first female General Secretary of the TUC 🙌 and to have so many of my fab @polisatleeds.bsky.social students in the audience
'Towards Westminster' (1972) by Edward Seago
(Private collection)
A paradigmatic example of the mistaken prioritisation of “research” over teaching. Cross-subsidise research from student fees, and penalise academics who prioritise teaching.
Nowadays, it is a foregone conclusion that the monarch will grant royal assent to a bill to make it an Act of Parliament.
The last monarch to refuse to sign a bill was Queen Anne in 1708, who withheld royal assent from the Scottish Militia Bill.
The passage of the Hereditary Peers Bill in the Lords yesterday means an end to 366 unbroken years of membership of Parliament by peers claiming their seats by hereditary right.
If one overlooks the hiatus of 1649-1660, their participation dates back to the very beginning of parliaments.
#HistParl
I am so full of admiration for Charlotte Nichols’ courage in talking about this - particularly awful that as a woman in public life she will have had to consider first how people might use this information against her, especially online. Hope she has all the support she needs.
A screenshot of a google results page for the search query "cabinet office ministers". It states that the Minister for the Cabinet Office is Baron True, a completely false answer.
I know this is punishment for not just searching through gov.uk to get pictures for my lecture slides, but why must Google be so bad now?
The U.K. Parliament needs fixing.
But the fight over how to repair this UNESCO World Heritage site has become a seemingly endless tale of division and delay.
🔗 politi.co/46MVltE
I’m thrilled to share that my new book on the UK Parliament has officially gone into production, with publication planned for October.
The book offers a “critical friend” perspective — recognising Parliament’s strengths while examining the challenges rooted in its historical development.
More soon
Huge thanks to @elliechowns.bsky.social @drbeccycoopermp.bsky.social and Karen Bradley MP for joining me for #IWD2026.
Got into quite the debate about what the constituency inbox teaches you about problems facing our public services and frustrations that causes
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
The Palace of Westminster stands on the banks of the River Thames in London as a proud symbol of British democracy.
But upon closer inspection, this neo-gothic mini-village is falling apart.
THANK POD IT’S FRIDAY Westminster Insider: POLITICO’s Patrick Baker takes a tour of parliament’s crumbling infrastructure and discusses what to do next with restoration expert Alexandra Meakin, Liberal Democrat MP Marie Goldman, Conservative MP and Father of the House Edward Leigh and former minister Ed Vaizey.
And here's the Playbook trail for the pod. Thanks to @politico.eu for the interview.
