Dr Philip Lynch

Associate Professor in Politics

BA (Leeds), MA (York), PhD (Warwick)

Contact details

• Tel: +44 (0)116 252 2712
• Fax: +44 (0)116 252 5082
• Email: PLL3@leicester.ac.uk
• Twitter: @DrPhilipLynch
• Office: Attenborough Tower 1002

• Feedback and Support Times (Semester 2, 2020-21): By appointment only
• Dissertation Hour (Semester 2, 2020-21): By appointment only

Teaching

Undergraduate Modules:

• PL3098 The Conservatives: Crisis and Recovery
• PL3107 Brexit and British Politics
• PL2020 Political Parties in Contemporary Britain

Postgraduate Modules (Distance Learning):

• PL7595 Euroscepticism

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Textbooks

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

• Exploring British Politics, 5th edition, (Routledge, 2021) 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'.

• UK Government and Politics, (with Paul Fairclough and Toby Cooper), 5th edition, Hodder Education, 2017. Fully updated for the new AS/A level specifications, and covering key topics for all exam boards. A fully revised 6th edition will be published in 2022.

I was a member of the Editorial Board of Politics Review, the leading magazine for students of A-level Politics, for 25 years.

Publications

Books

UK Government and Politics for AS/A level, 5th edition [with Paul Fairclough and Toby Cooper]. (London: Hodder Education, 2017). Pp.352. ISBN 978-1471889238.

Exploring British Politics, 5th edition [with Mark Garnett and Peter Dorey]. (Oxford: Routledge, 2021). Pp.653. ISBN 9780367142407.

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.

Journal Articles

• (2021) 'Unity and divisions on departmental select committees: a Brexit effect?', British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 23:3, pp.471-87, with Richard Whitaker.
• (2020) 'UK parliamentary scrutiny of the EU political and legal space after Brexit', Journal of Common Market Studies, 58:6, pp.1605-20, with Adam Cygan and Richard Whitaker.
• (2019) 'Select committees and Brexit: parliamentary influence in a divisive policy area', Parliamentary Affairs, 72:4, pp.923-44, with Richard Whitaker.
• (2018) 'All Brexiteers now? Brexit, the Conservatives and party change', British Politics, 13:1, pp.31-47, with Richard Whitaker. Associated data are available here.
• (2015) 'Conservative modernisation and European integration: from silence to salience and schism', British Politics, Vol.10, No.2, pp.185-203.
• (2014) 'Understanding the formation and actions of Eurosceptic groups in the European Parliament: pragmatism, principles and publicity', Government and Opposition, Vol.49, No.2, pp.232-63, with Richard Whitaker.
• (2013) 'Rivalry on the right: the Conservatives, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the EU issue', British Politics, Vol.8, No.3, pp.285-312, with Richard Whitaker.
• (2013) 'Where there is discord, can they bring harmony? Managing intra-party dissent on European integration in the Conservative Party', British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Vol.15, No.3, pp.317-339, with Richard Whitaker.
• (2012) 'The UK Independence Party: understanding a niche party's strategy, candidates and supporters', Parliamentary Affairs, 65:4, pp.733-57, with Richard Whitaker and Gemma Loomes.
• (2011) 'Explaining support for the UK Independence Party at the 2009 European Parliament elections', Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 21:3, pp.359-79, with Richard Whitaker.
• (2008) 'A loveless marriage: The Conservatives and the European People’s Party', Parliamentary Affairs, 61:1, pp.31-51, with Richard Whitaker.

Book chapters

• (2019) 'Brexit and the UK Parliament: Challenges and Opportunities', (with Richard Whitaker and Adam Cygan) in Thomas Christiansen and Diane Fromage (eds.) Brexit and Democracy: The Role of Parliaments in the UK and European Union. London: Palgrave, pp.51-79.
• (2016) 'Continuing Fault Lines and New Threats: European Integration and the Rise of UKIP’, (with Richard Whitaker), in Gillian Peele and John Francis (eds.) David Cameron and Conservative Renewal: The Limits of Modernisation. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp.121-38. ISBN 9781784991531.
• (2015) 'The Coalition and the European Union', in Matt Beech and Simon Lee (eds.) The Conservative-Liberal Coalition: Examining the Cameron-Clegg Government. London: Palgrave, pp.243-258. ISBN 9781137461360.
• (2012) ‘European Policy’, in Timothy Heppell and David Seawright (eds.) Cameron and the Conservatives: The Transition to Coalition Government. London: Palgrave, pp.74-88. ISBN 9780230314108.
• (2011) ‘The Con-Lib Agenda for Europe’, in Simon Lee and Matt Beech (eds.), The Cameron-Clegg Government. Coalition Politics in an Age of Austerity. London: Palgrave, pp.218-33.  ISBN 9780230296442.
• (2009) ‘The Conservatives and Europe: the Lull before the Storm?’, in Simon Lee and Matt Beech (eds.), The Conservatives under David Cameron. Built to Last? London: Palgrave, pp.187-207. ISBN 9780230575653.
• (2009) ‘Cameron, Modernisation and Conservative Britain’, in Simon Griffiths and Kevin Hickson (eds.), British Party Politics and Ideology After New Labour. London: Palgrave, pp.119-34. ISBN 9780230220768.

Research

My main research focus is on Brexit and on the Conservative Party. I am particularly interested in the Conservative Party and European integration. Recent publications examine Conservative policy and divisions on European integration; the UK Parliament and Brexit; and party competition between the Conservatives and UKIP.

Current research

1. Parties, Parliament and the Brexit Process https://parlbrexit.co.uk/

This study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (with Adam Cygan and Richard Whitaker) as part of the 'UK in a Changing Europe' programme focuses on how the Brexit vote has affected UK party politics, how Parliament has responded to Brexit in terms of its structures and procedures, and attempts to identify those areas of policy that have been most subject to conflict between and within parties and are most likely to change once the UK has left the EU.

2. The Conservative Party and European Integration

My research in this area examines why European integration has been such a difficult issue for the Conservative Party: Conservative policy on European integration: divisions within the Conservative Party on the EU issue and how they are managed: the character of Conservative Euroscepticism; and the Conservatives in the European Parliament.

3. The Conservatives, UKIP and party competition on the centre right

This research with Richard Whitaker, originally funded by the Leverhulme Trust (2009-10), examined party competition between the Conservatives and UK Independence Party (UKIP), with a primary focus on the issue of European integration. It assessed the rise of UKIP and the challenges this posed for the Conservatives, plus the attitudes, policies, support and electoral strategies of the two parties.

Research grants

• 'Parties, Parliament and the Brexit Process - General Election 2019', (with Adam Cygan and Richard Whitaker), Economic and Social Research Council, £50,000, 2019-20.
• 'Parties, Parliament and the Brexit Process', (with Adam Cygan and Richard Whitaker), Economic and Social Research Council, £290,000, 2017-19.
• 'Competing on the Centre Right: an Examination of Party Strategy in Britain', (principal applicant, with Richard Whitaker). Leverhulme Trust, £49,212, 2009-10.
• 'The Conservatives in the European Parliament: Pariahs or Poodles of the Party Leadership?' (principal 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

Research arising from the 'Parties, Parliament and the Brexit Process' project has been presented at a number of academic conferences including the 2019 PSA annual conference (Nottingham), the 2018 PSA annual conference (Cardiff) and the 2017 EPOP annual conference (Nottingham).

Impact

The 'Parties, Parliament and the Brexit Process' project team submitted written and oral evidence to the House of Commons' Liaison Committee inquiry on 'The effectiveness and influence of the select committee system' in 2019. We have also presented our research findings to MPs, peers and parliamentary staff at a number of events in Westminster, and published blog pieces for the 'UK and a Changing Europe'.

Supervision

I would be interested in supervising postgraduate research on Brexit and on the Conservative Party.

I acted as External Examiner for the DPhil thesis submitted by Luke Moore (Oxford).

Learn more and apply for research degrees in Politics and International Relations.