Dr Richard Whitaker

BA (Salford), MA Econ, PhD (Manchester)

Contact details

• Tel: +44 (0)116 252 2756
• Fax: +44 (0)116 252 5082
• Email: richard.whitaker@leicester.ac.uk
• Twitter: @RickWhitaker
• MEP data: www.mepsurvey.eu
• Parties, Parliament and the Brexit Process: parlbrexit.co.uk
• Office: Attenborough Tower 1013

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

Personal details

BA (Salford), MA Econ, PhD (Manchester)

My main research interests concern two areas: the study of legislatures, and British parties and European integration. On the first of these, my work so far has focused principally on the European Parliament and its internal organisation, specifically committees, party groups and national parties. I am also working on parliamentary oversight of coalition governance at Westminster. On the second area, with Adam Cygan and Philip Lynch, I have worked on an ESRC-funded project on Parties, Parliament and the Brexit process. This project forms part of the ESRC's UK in a Changing Europe programme. In the past, with Philip Lynch I have also worked on a Leverhulme-funded project on party competition on the centre-right and have previously researched the Conservatives in the European Parliament. I am a member of the School's research cluster on Parties, Participation and Public Opinion (3PO).

Teaching

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

My teaching, past and present, covers the following areas:

• The Westminster Parliament
• European Union institutions and policy-making
• Comparative legislatures
• Comparative politics in general
• Research methods in political science

Publications

Recent Publications

Books

(2011) The European Parliament's committees: National party influence and legislative empowerment, London: Routledge. Replication data

Recent Journal Articles and Chapters

• (forthcoming), 'Divide to Conquer? Strategic Parliamentary Opposition and Coalition Government', Party Politics, with Shane Martin.
• (2021), 'Unity and Divisions on Departmental Select Committees: a Brexit Effect?', British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 23:3, pp.471-487, with Philip Lynch.

• (2020) 'UK Parliamentary Scrutiny of the EU Political and Legal Space after Brexit', Journal of Common Market Studies, 58:6, pp.1605-1620, with Adam Cygan and Philip Lynch.
• (2019), 'Select committees and Brexit: Parliamentary influence in a divisive policy area', Parliamentary Affairs, 72:4, pp. 923-944, with Philip Lynch. Associated data are available here.
• (2019) 'Beyond Committees: Parliamentary Oversight of Coalition Government in Britain', West European Politics, 42:7, pp.1464-1486, with Shane Martin.
• (2019) 'Brexit and the UK Parliament: Challenges and Opportunities' in Thomas Christiansen and Diane Fromage (eds) Brexit and Democracy: The Role of Parliaments in the UK and European Union, Basingstoke: Palgrave, pp.51-79, with Philip Lynch and Adam Cygan.
• (2019) 'A case of ‘You can always get what you want’? Committee assignments in the European Parliament', Parliamentary Affairs, 72:1, pp.162-181.

• (2018) 'All Brexiteers Now? Brexit, the Conservatives and Party Change', British Politics, 13:1, pp.31-47, with Philip Lynch. Associated data are available here.
• (2017) 'The UK Independence Party (UKIP) and other primarily Eurosceptic parties' in Benjamin Leruth, Nicholas Startin and Simon Usherwood (eds) The Routledge Handbook of Euroscepticism, London: Routledge, pp.100-112.
• (2017) 'Understanding MEPs: Four Waves of the European Parliament Research Group MEP Survey', European Union Politics, 18:3, with Simon Hix and Galina Zapryanova. Associated data are available here: www.mepsurvey.eu
• (2016) 'United Kingdom', European Journal of Political Research: Political Data Yearbook 2015, 55:1, pp.267-73.
• (2016) 'Continuing Fault Lines and New Threats: European Integration and the Rise of UKIP’ in Gillian Peele and John Francis (eds) David Cameron and Conservative renewal: The limits of modernisation?, Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp.121-138, with Philip Lynch.
• (2015) 'United Kingdom', European Journal of Political Research: Political Data Yearbook 2014, 54:1, pp.302-8.
• (2014) 'Tenure, turnover and careers in the European Parliament: MEPs as policy-seekers', Journal of European Public Policy, 21:10, pp.1509-27.
• (2014) 'United Kingdom', European Journal of Political Research: Political Data Yearbook 2013, 53:1, pp.311-17.
• (2014) 'Understanding the formation and actions of Eurosceptic groups in the European Parliament: pragmatism, principles and publicity', Government and Opposition, 49:2, pp.232-63, with Philip Lynch.
• (2013) 'United Kingdom', European Journal of Political Research: Political Data Yearbook 2012, 52:1, pp.239-45.
• (2013) 'Rivalry on the Right: The Conservatives, The UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the EU Issue', British Politics, 8:3. pp.285-312, with Philip Lynch.
• (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, 15:3, pp.317-39, with Philip Lynch.
• (2012) 'United Kingdom', European Journal of Political Research: Political Data Yearbook 2011, 51: 1, pp.322-32.
• (2012) 'The UK Independence Party: understanding a niche party's strategy, candidates and supporters',Parliamentary Affairs, 65:4, pp.733-57, with Philip Lynch and Gemma Loomes.
• (2011) 'United Kingdom', European Journal of Political Research: Political Data Yearbook, 50: 7-8, pp.1164-74.
• (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 Philip Lynch.
• (2010) 'United Kingdom', European Journal of Political Research: Political Data Yearbook, 49: 7-8, pp.1193-1202.
• (2008) 'A Loveless Marriage: The Conservatives and the European People’s Party', Parliamentary Affairs, 61:1, pp.31-51, with Philip Lynch.
• (2006) 'Parliament and Government, 2005-06: Reforms and Reflections', Parliamentary Affairs, 59:4, pp.694-702.
• (2006) 'Ping-pong and policy influence: Relations between the Lords and Commons 2005-6', Parliamentary Affairs, 59:3, pp.536-45.
• (2006) 'Backbench influence on government legislation? A flexing of parliamentary muscles at Westminster', Parliamentary Affairs, 59:2, pp.350-9.
• (2006) 'Ascendant Assemblies in Britain? Rebellions, Reforms and Inter-Cameral Conflict', Parliamentary Affairs, 59:1, pp. 173-80.
• (2005) 'Small Group Teaching: Perceptions and Problems', Politics, 25:2, pp. 116-25, with Amy Bogaard, Sabine C. Carey, Gwilym Dodd and Ian D. Repath.
• (2005) 'The United Kingdom' in Juliet Lodge (ed.), The 2004 Elections to the European Parliament (Basingstoke, Palgrave).
• (2005) 'Parliament and the Public: A view from the Outside' in Nicholas D. J. Baldwin (ed.), Parliament in the 21st Century (London, Politico's).
• (2005) 'Parliament and the European Union: Refrigerators, Readings and Reforms' in Nicholas D. J. Baldwin (ed.), Parliament in the 21st Century (London, Politico's).
• (2005) 'National parties in the European Parliament: an influence in the committee system?', European Union Politics, 6:1, pp. 5-28.
• (2001) 'Party Control in a Committee-Based Legislature? The Case of the European Parliament', Journal of Legislative Studies, 7:4, pp. 63-88.
• (2000) 'The development of the European Parliament's committee system 1979-99: leadership, membership and legislative responsibility', European Policy Research Unit Working Papers, Department of Government, University of Manchester.

Research

Current research

Parties, Parliament and the Brexit Process

This study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (with Adam Cygan and Philip Lynch) 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.

MEPs in the 2014-19 European Parliament: the rise of Euroscepticism?

This study (funded by a Leverhulme Research Project Grant of £56,399, co-investigator Professor Simon Hix - London School of Economics) began in October 2014. The research assesses the range of views represented in the European Parliament, changes in mainstream Members of the European Parliaments’ (MEPs) views over time, MEPs’ attitudes to democracy in the EU and the UK’s future relationship with the EU. It is based on a survey of MEPs, which will add to a time series of survey data collected by the European Parliament Research Group. The data are available at our dedicated website here.

Recent Research Activities

I was a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University's School of Politics and International Relations during March 2019, working on a project on MEPs' careers with Professor Patrick Dumont. I will be presenting papers on patterns of parliamentary questions among opposition MPs, select committees and Brexit, and MEPs' roles in the coming months.

PhD Supervision

My main research interests concern two areas: the study of legislatures, and British centre-right parties and European integration. Plans for future research include work on Eurosceptics in the European Parliament and the success or otherwise of Euroscepticism more broadly. I would be keen to supervise projects on the European Parliament, the Westminster Parliament, comparative legislatures (particularly committees and parties in legislatures), and Eurosceptic political parties.

I have supervised the following students to completion:

• Andrew Jones (July 2020), Managing coalition government in an upper house: testing the 'keeping tabs' theory in the House of Lords 2010-15.
• Ana Carrillo-Lopez (May 2018), European identity and voting in the European Parliament Elections: The Effect of Transnationalism in post-crisis EU.

• Laura MacKenzie (November 2017), Participation in the European Parliament: Populist Parties and Rapporteurships.

• Berta Barbet Porta (May 2016), Issues, party strategies and voter behaviour: A dynamic approach.

• Peter Thomas (December 2013),The politicisation of immigration by the centre-right in the UK and France, 2000-2010.

I was second supervisor to Tim Sansom who completed his thesis on 'Political Marketing: The Conservatives in Opposition' in 2009, to Carol Weaver who completed a thesis on US-Russian tensions and EU policy in the Black Sea region in 2011 and to Mukhtar Hajizada who was awarded his PhD in December 2012 on 'Complex regionalisation in the wider Black Sea area'.

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

PhD Examination

I have acted as external examiner for PhD theses by David Marshall (LSE), Ana-Iuliana Postu (Royal Holloway), Amy Busby (Sussex), Einion Dafydd (Aberystwyth), Fiona Williams (Nottingham), Jack Blumenau (LSE), David Alexander (Glasgow), Robert Van Geffen (LSE) and Margherita de Candia (King's College, London).