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1. The state of public opinion: 2023

Author:
Tim Bale, Matthew Blayney, Rosie Campbell, Leonardo Carella, and John Curtice
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
A lot has changed since Boris Johnson celebrated ‘smashing’ the 2019 election. Since then, we’ve faced a global pandemic, two wars, and spiralling inflation and interest rates. Britain has lived through a tumultuous period. The same period saw Labour choose a new leader, whilst the Conservatives elected two. ‘Levelling up’ became the latest buzzword. ‘Partygate’ was followed by a series of allegations about impropriety at the top of government. Nineteen by-elections took place, for reasons ranging from resignations to recall petitions. As the cost-of-living crisis worsened, voter concern about the economy rocketed, whilst interest in Brexit declined. As we approach the next general election, understanding what the public makes of these developments, and how opinion and voting behaviour has shifted since December 2019, is crucial. This new UK in a Changing Europe report brings together over 45 of the UK’s top public opinion experts. They analyse both short and long-term trends that have shaped public attitudes and voting behaviour and will continue to do so in the run up to the next general election and beyond. The 36 contributions cover political parties, the four nations, key policy issues, voting behaviour and Brexit.
Topic:
Public Opinion, Elections, Brexit, and Voting Behavior
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

2. 'Between the Obsolete and the Utopian': David Miliband Lecture at the Mile End Institute, 6 May 2022

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
n his Keynote Address to the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference, the former Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, explores the significance of the 1997 Election and the New Labour 'Project', before considering what the Labour Party can learn from 1997 twenty-five years on.
Topic:
Governance, Elections, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

3. New Labour, New Britain: Professor Matthew Hilton introduces the Rt Hon David Miliband

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
On Friday 6 May 2022, Professor Matthew Hilton (Vice Principal for Humanities and Social Sciences) introduces the Rt Hon David Miliband, who delivered the Keynote Address at the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference to mark the 25th anniversary of New Labour's landslide victory in the 1997 General Election.
Topic:
Governance, Elections, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

4. New Labour, New Britain: Audience Q&A on Modernisation and Change in the 1997 Campaign

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In the first session of the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference, Dame Margaret Hodge, Professor Sarah Childs, Caroline Flint and John McTernan answer questions from our in-person audience on 'Modernisation and Change' on the Road to the 1997 Election.
Topic:
Elections, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

5. New Labour, New Britain: Dame Margaret Hodge

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
n the first session of the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference on 'Modernisation and Change in the 1997 Campaign', Dame Margaret Hodge reflects on the fall-out from the Wilson and Callaghan governments, how the Labour Party changed before 1997 and the contribution of Local Government to New Labour's landslide in May 1997.
Topic:
Governance, Elections, Leadership, Local, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

6. New Labour, New Britain: John McTernan

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In the first session of the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference on 'Modernisation and Change in the 1997 Campaign', the journalist, John McTernan, reflects on the significance of the 1997 election and his time as Director of Political Operations for Tony Blair from 2005 to 2007.
Topic:
Governance, Elections, Leadership, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

7. New Labour, New Britain: Rt Hon Caroline Flint

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In the first session of the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference on 'Modernisation and Change in the 1997 Campaign', the former MP for Don Valley, Caroline Flint, reflects on how New Labour changed the Labour Party and her experiences serving in the Blair and Brown governments.
Topic:
Governance, Elections, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

8. New Labour, New Britain: Professor Tim Bale on the result of the 1997 General Election

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this presentation, Professor Tim Bale explores the result of the 1997 General Election and considers how New Labour changed the electoral geography of the United Kingdom.
Topic:
Governance, Elections, Leadership, Domestic Politics, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

9. New Labour, New Britain: Professor Steven Fielding on Modernisation and Change in the 1997 Campaign

Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In his introduction to the Mile End Institute's New Labour, New Britain conference on Friday 6 May, Professor Steven Fielding explores the impact on New Labour's 'modernisation' efforts in the 1997 General Election campaign, before introducing Professor Tim Bale.
Topic:
Governance, Elections, Leadership, Domestic Policy, and Labour Party
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

10. Polling London: Londoners' Priorities ahead of the Local Elections

Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
On Thursday 5 May, Londoners will go to the polls to elect nearly 2000 councillors and 5 new mayors across 32 boroughs, for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. In association with YouGov, the Mile End Institute has polled Londoners to find out how they intend to vote on 5 May, how living in the Capital during the Covid-19 pandemic has changed their perception of the City and how much trust they have in the Metropolitan Police. At this Breakfast Webinar, held on Thursday 24 March, Farah Hussain (Polling London Project Manager) and Dr Patrick Diamond (Director of the MEI) present our findings, before Lewis Baston, Jenna Goldberg, and Sadiya Akram give their thoughts on the significance of these results and what they tell us about politics and policy in London.
Topic:
Elections, Domestic Politics, Local, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, and London

11. The Labour Party in Opposition and Power 1979-2019: Forward March Halted?

Author:
Patrick Diamond
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
The cycle of defeat and recovery begins in 1979 with Labour’s ejection from office following the economic and political crises of the 1970s.2 The party’s defeat was traumatic, if not unexpected. The Prime Minister, Jim Callaghan admitted: ‘There are times, perhaps once every thirty years, when there is a sea-change in politics. It then does not matter what you say or what you do. There is a shift in what the public wants and what it approves of. I suspect there is now such a sea- change and it is for Mrs. Thatcher’. The loss of office was as nothing compared with the harrowing events of the decade that followed. Labour suffered a further three consecutive defeats. In 1981, the party was almost obliterated by the breakaway Social Democratic Party (SDP), threatening to end Labour’s grip on the centre-left vote. Only the First- Past-the-Post electoral system saved Labour as the dominant force on the Left of British politics. Even so, the party remained bitterly divided. The leadership spent years embroiled in internal factional disputes, such was its determination to destroy the hard Left entryist Militant Tendency. Since the 1950s, Labour was weakened by recurrent intra-party conflict. Most notable were its divisions over Europe, fundamental ideological disagreements about the role of the state in the economy, and the primacy that should be accorded to nationalisation and public ownership in the party’s programme.
Topic:
Elections, Political Parties, Opposition, and Partisanship
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

12. Political attitudes at a time of flux

Author:
Katy Hayward and Ben Rosher
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
2019 was a year of tremendous political significance in Northern Ireland in terms of what failed to happen. On-off talks between the DUP and Sinn Féin went nowhere and the Assembly Chamber in Stormont remained empty for a third year. Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement failed to be passed by the House of Commons and so the UK remained an EU member-state into the new year. This Research Update by Katy Hayward and Ben Rosher highlights public attitudes relevant to the political challenges in Northern Ireland, based on data from the 2019 Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) survey.
Topic:
Politics, Elections, and Brexit
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, and Northern Ireland

13. The US election 2020 and transatlantic relations

Author:
Gideon Rachman, Jeremy Shapiro, Kate McNamara, and Anand Menon
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
At this Isolation Insight webinar, speakers discusses the US election and what the result might mean for transatlantic relations. Speakers : Gideon Rachman, Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, Financial Times; Jeremy Shapiro, Research Director, European Council on Foreign Relations; Kate McNamara, Professor of Government and Foreign Service, Georgetown University; Chair: Anand Menon, Director, UK in a Changing Europe
Topic:
Elections, European Union, Brexit, and Transatlantic Relations
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, North America, and United States of America

14. Labour: a year after the election

Author:
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Lucy Powell, John Curtice, Sienna Rodgers, and Anand Menon
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
The outcome of the 2019 general election was the worst in the Labour Party’s history. One year on from the vote the UK in a Changing Europe and LabourList are putting on an event looking at how the party has changed over the last 12 months and what it needs to do to win in 2024. Speakers are: Bell Ribeiro-Addy, MP for Streatham, Labour Party; Lucy Powell, Shadow Minister for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and MP for Manchester Central, Labour Party; Sir John Curtice, Senior Fellow, UK in a Changing Europe; Sienna Rodgers, Editor, LabourList; Chair: Anand Menon, Director, UK in a Changing Europe
Topic:
Elections, European Union, Brexit, Political Parties, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

15. UN Human Rights Council Elections for 2021-2023 and the Responsibility to Protect

Author:
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Abstract:
Today, 13 October, the UN General Assembly elected Bolivia, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, France, Gabon, Malawi, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Senegal, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan to the Human Rights Council (HRC) for the 2021-2023 term. With the elections of Côte d’Ivoire, France, Mexico, Senegal and United Kingdom, 16 of the 47 Council members during 2021 will also be members of the Group of Friends of the Responsibility to Protect in Geneva. The Human Rights Council and its mechanisms – including the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), special procedures and treaty bodies, as well as the technical assistance provided by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) – all play an essential role in providing early warning of the risk factors that can lead to crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and genocide.
Topic:
Human Rights, United Nations, Elections, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and UN Human Rights Council (HRC)
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Russia, China, United Kingdom, Ukraine, France, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Nepal, Mexico, Senegal, Bolivia, Malawi, Côte d'Ivoire, Global Focus, and Gabon

16. Disenfranchising Democracy: Constructing the Electorate in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, David A. Bateman

Author:
Dawn Langan Teele
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
David A. Bateman’s new book explores nearly all of the crucial questions concerning democracy and inclusion that we are grappling with today, from the very broad—how do the ways in which we think about the origins of our nation inform the welcoming or hostile attitudes we assume in relation to immigrants and outsiders?—to the very narrow—do requirements that voters present physical documents verifying their identity reduce the electoral participation of minority groups? In answering these questions, Bateman offers a detailed portrait of the political machinations that result in electoral reforms, describing elites’ efforts to blur lines between expediency and morality and the circumstances that led conservative parties (the same that today seek to abolish laws that give special status to protected classes of people) to work hard to establish and maintain legal provisions that awarded different rights to different groups. Fundamentally, Bateman explains why steps toward inclusive democratic institutions are often accompanied by steps back, which leave us uncertain of our accomplishments and anxious about our future. Remarkably, though, Disenfranchising Democracy considers these familiar dynamics and dilemmas not in the contemporary world but in the rather distant past, drawing on a wealth of archival sources to analyze the timing of electoral reforms, the emergence and ossification of party- based patterns of support for franchise reform, and the political ideas of would-be reformers and resisters in three of the world’s first semidemocratic countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.
Topic:
History, Elections, Democracy, Book Review, and Political Science
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, France, North America, and United States of America

17. The Battle of Brexit. Analysis of the 2019 United Kingdom General Election Results

Author:
Bartłomiej H. Toszek
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Polish Political Science Yearbook
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
The article presents the main parties (i.e. the Conservative Party, Labor Party, Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party) results of the 2019 UK general election as well as an analysis of the most important issues (i.e. correct identification of voters’ expectations, simplicity and clarity of the messages, leaders’ personalities) which determined each party success or loss. The author proves that since Brexit was the primary focus of voters, the level of support for particular parties remained dependent on the solutions presented in this issue. This basis explains why the Conservatives in the whole UK and the SNP in Scotland won (and the Labor Party and the Liberal Democrats lost) the battle of Brexit.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Elections, European Union, Brexit, and Nativism
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

18. The EU should prepare for all UK post-election scenarios

Author:
Larissa Brunner
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
European Policy Centre (EPC)
Abstract:
With the UK elections imminent, Larissa Brunner lays out three different scenarios depending on the outcome. None offer any reason for the EU to be optimistic. If the Conservatives win, the Withdrawal Agreement will probably be passed, providing short-term predictability and certainty. But any long-term deal will probably be much worse than the status quo. A Labour victory would mean the opposite: further short-term uncertainty until the new government has renegotiated another Brexit deal and held a second referendum, but a possible closer relationship in the long run (assuming the Leave vote is confirmed). A hung Parliament would combine the worst of both worlds. And then there’s the Scottish question. Regardless of whether the new government needs SNP support or not, the political pressure on London to endorse a second independence vote is likely to increase. The EU should, therefore, not take its eye off the ball and use the current respite in the Brexit process to prepare itself for all of the possible post-election scenarios.
Topic:
Elections, European Union, and Brexit
Political Geography:
Britain, United Kingdom, Europe, and Scotland

19. Brexit: the manifestos uncovered

Author:
Anand Menon
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
This is, according to several of the parties and at least one national broadcaster, a Brexit election. Assuming this is wholly – or even partially (as even Labour accept in their manifesto) – true, what the parties are saying about Brexit is therefore of crucial importance. This report represents our attempt to identify what they say, to compare the different pledges the parties make and to explain in straightforward terms what each of them is offering on Brexit. Our aim, simply stated, is to promote understanding so people can make up their own minds. Once again, we have been fortunate enough to be able to draw on the expertise of some of the country’s leading social scientists. Catherine Barnard, Matt Bevington, Charlotte Burns, Katy Hayward, Nicola McEwen, Jonathan Portes, Jill Rutter and Dan Wincott all contributed to this report. Alan Wager and John-Paul Salter edited the text. We hope you find what follows enlightening and informative. Election campaigns produce endless amounts of heat. We have attempted in what follows to shed at least a little light.
Topic:
Politics, Elections, European Union, Brexit, and Society
Political Geography:
Britain, United Kingdom, and Europe

20. The mechanics of a further referendum on Brexit revisited: questions for the new parliament

Author:
Alan Renwick, Meg Russell, Lisa James, and Jess Sargeant
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
Academics from the UCL Constitution Unit examine objectively the options for a further referendum. The chapters in the report explain the following: How a further referendum might come about; The referendum process, and the minimum timetable; The form the question might take; The regulatory framework, and options for improving the quality of debate; The pros and cons of making a referendum legally binding; How and when a further referendum might occur.
Topic:
Politics, Elections, European Union, Brexit, Referendum, and Society
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe