Director of Undergraduate Studies 

Contact Details

• Tel: +44 (0)116 252 2712
• Fax: +44 (0)116 252 5082
• Email: PLL3@leicester.ac.uk

Research Interests

My main research focus is on party politics on the centre right in Britain.  I am particularly interested in the Conservative Party and European integration; the relationship between the Conservative Party and the British nation state; and Euroscepticism in Britain, notably the UK Independence Party.

Current Research

1. Party competition on the centre right

I am working on a project on party competition on the centre right in Britain with Richard Whitaker which is funded by the Leverhulme Trust. It examines Conservative and UKIP attitudes, policy and electoral strategy on European integration at the 2009 European Parliament election and the 2010 general elections. It assesses the relative importance of the various factors that shape party positions on the issue of European integration (e.g. ideology, electoral strategy and the party system). The project employs a range of research methods including candidate surveys, elite interviews, and analysis of party manifestos, campaign materials and European Parliament roll-call voting data. For further details see our project website.

2. The Conservative Party

I am currently writing a monograph, Conservative Britain? Cameron and the Limits of Conservative Recovery, which will be published by Palgrave Macmillan. It will assess how the contemporary political terrain is less favourable to the Conservatives than that which shaped the party’s identity and sustained it in office for much of the twentieth century. The book will thus examine the problems posed for the Conservatives by issues such as European integration, and constitutional reform.

Research Grants

• 'Competing on the Centre Right:an Examination of Party Strategy in Britain', (lead applicant, with Richard Whitaker). Leverhulme Trust, £49,212, 2009-10.
• 'The Conservatives in the European Parliament: Pariahs or Poodles of the Party Leadership?' (lead applicant, with Richard Whitaker). British Academy, £3,723, 2005/06.
• 'The British-Irish Council: Dynamics of Institutional Change' (with Stephen Hopkins). Economic and Social Research Council, £5,099, 2000.

Recent Research Activities

Richard Whitaker and I presented papers on party competition on the British centre right at the EPOP annual conference at the University of Strathclyde in August 2009, the ECPR joint sessions at the University of Munster in March 2010, and the PSA annual conference at the University of Edinburgh in April 2010. We have recently published our second briefing paper from the project, dealing with the UK Independence Party, which is avaliable below.

PhD Supervision

I would be interested in supervising postgraduate research on the centre right in Britain, (particularly the Conservative Party and UKIP) and British politics and European integration (particularly Euroscepticism).

Teaching

Undergraduate Modules:

• PL3098 The Conservatives: Crisis and Recovery
• PL3107 British Politics and European Integration
• PL1011 Introduction to Politics: Ideas and Ideologies

I am co-author of two textbooks on British politics:

• Exploring British Politics (with Mark Garnett), 2nd edition, Longman, 2009, is a concise, comprehensive and accessible undergraduate textbook.
• AS UK Government and Politics, (with Paul Fairclough), 3rd edition, Philip Allan Updates, 2010, is a leading textbook at AS level that has been completely updated for the new specifications following the 2010 general election.

I am also a regular contributor to, Politics Review, the leading magazine for students of Politics.

Textbooks

I am co-author, with Mark Garnett, of two textbooks on British politics. Exploring British Politics, 2nd edition, (Longman, 2009) is a concise and accessible undergraduate textbook which is designed to stimulate critical analysis and provoke lively debate. It provides new perspectives on two key themes – the health of British democracy and the transition from traditional models of government to more flexible forms of 'governance'.

AS UK Government and Politics, 2nd edition, (Philip Allan Updates, 2006) is a leading textbook at AS level. It has been written specifically to meet the needs of AS students, providing comprehensive, accessible and up-to-date coverage of topics on exam board specifications. Each chapter includes summary boxes, definitions of key terms and an Exam Focus section. A 3rd edition will be published after the general election.

I am also a regular contributor to, and a former editor of Politics Review, the leading magazine for students of Politics.

Most Recent Publications

Books

AS UK Government and Politics, 3rd Edition [with Paul Fairclough]. (Deddington: Philip Allan Updates, 2010). Pp.407. ISBN 1844894169.

Exploring British Politics, 2nd Edition [with Mark Garnett]. (Harloe: Longman, 2009). Pp.592. ISBN 978-1408204412.

AS UK Government and Politics, 2nd edition [with Mark Garnett]. (Philip Allan Updates, 2006). Pp.407. ISBN 978-1844894161.

The Conservatives in Crisis. The Tories after 1997 [Editor, with Mark Garnett], (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003) Pp.ix + 320. ISBN 0719063310.

Reforming the European Union: From Maastricht to Amsterdam [co-editor]. (London: Longman, 2000). Pp. xii + 256. ISBN 0582289866. 

The Politics of Nationhood: Sovereignty, Britishness and Conservative Politics (London: Palgrave, 1999) Pp.xiii + 201. ISBN 0333656121.

Recent Journal Articles

• 'Explaining support for the UK Independence Party at the 2009 European Parliament elections', [with Richard Whitaker], Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, (forthcoming).

• 'The Conservatives and Europe: the Lull before the Storm?’, in Simon Lee & Matt Beech (eds), The Conservatives under David Cameron. Built to Last? (London: Palgrave, 2009) pp.187-207.

• 'Cameron, Modernisation and Conservative Britain’, in Simon Griffiths & Kevin Hickson (eds), British Party Politics and Ideology After New Labour (London: Palgrave, 2009), pp.119-34.

• 'A loveless marriage. The Conservatives and the European People's Party'  [with Richard Whitaker], Parliamentary Affairs, Vol.61, No.1, 2008, pp.31-51.

• 'Party System Change in Britain: Multi-Party Politics in a Multi-Level Polity', British Politics, Vol.2, No.3, 2007, pp.323-46.

• 'The Totality of Relationships? The British-Irish Council' (with Stephen Hopkins), in M. Cox, A. Guelke and F. Stephen (eds), A Farewell to Arms? Beyond the Good Friday Agreement, 2nd edition. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006), pp.187-200. 

•  ‘The Changing Party System’ [with Robert Garner], Parliamentary Affairs, Vol.58, No.3, 2005, pp.533-54.

• 'Saving the Union? The Conservatives and the "Celtic fringe"', Political Quarterly, Vol. 75, No. 4, 2004, pp.386-91.

• 'Bandwagon Blues: the Tory Fightback Fails', (with Mark Garnett), Political Quarterly, Vol.73, No.1, 2002, pp.29-37.

• 'The Conservative Party and Nationhood', Political Quarterly, Vol.71, No.1, 2000, pp.59-67.

Working papers

• (2011) 'Explaining support for the UK Independence Party at the 2009 European Parliament elections', with Richard Whitaker.
• (2011) 'The UK Independence Party: analysing its candidates and supporters', with Richard Whitaker and Gemma Loomes.