Birkbeck Politics

On 6 September 2022, Liz Truss became the third women in history to occupy the UK's highest political office and the UK's ninth ‘takeover' Prime Minister since the Second World War. Truss inherits a Parliamentary Conservative Party which remains scarred by Brexit and divided over how to handle the cost-of-living crisis and worsening outlook for economic growth. International challenges, including the war in Ukraine, require close cooperation between the UK and European partners, but Truss enters Downing Street with a reputation as a divisive figure who plays to the domestic gallery. And yet, throughout her political career, Truss has beaten expectations and changed her policy positions. In this roundtable, members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck discussed what to expect from Liz Truss's premiership, as a general election and perhaps even further leadership challenges loom on the political horizon. The panel was chaired by Dr Samantha Ashenden (Reader in Politics and Sociology) and included Dr Laura Richards-Gray (Lecturer in British Politics) and Dr Ben Worthy (Senor Lecturer in Politics) as speakers.

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck, University of London discuss current issues in British politics. In Episode 62, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss the Conservative leadership election. For more information about research on politics at Birkbeck, the range of events run by the Birkbeck Centre for British Political Life and our undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes in politics, please visit www.bbk.ac.uk/politics

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck, University of London discuss current issues in British politics. In Episode 61, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss Boris Johnson's resignation as leader of the Conservative Party and his legacy as Prime Minister. For more information about research on politics at Birkbeck, the range of events run by the Birkbeck Centre for British Political Life and our undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes in politics, please visit www.bbk.ac.uk/politics

‘Studying Politics at Birkbeck prepared me for this campaign'. Listen to current Birkbeck Politics student Ben Wood talking about his experience of running for Parliament in the recent North Shropshire by-election. For more information about Birkbeck's undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Politics, please visit www.bbk.ac.uk/politics

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck, University of London discuss current issues in British politics. In episode 60, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss Boris Johnson's troubled premiership and Dominic Raab's review of the Human Rights Act. For more information about research on politics at Birkbeck, the range of events run by the Birkbeck Centre for British Political Life and our undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes in politics, please visit www.bbk.ac.uk/politics

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck, University of London discuss current issues in British politics. In episode 59, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss political sleaze and the government's on-off approach to the Northern Ireland Protocol. For more information about research on politics at Birkbeck, the range of events run by the Birkbeck Centre for British Political Life and our undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes in politics, please visit www.bbk.ac.uk/politics

Politics and the Arts is a new undergraduate module at Birkbeck that explores the representation of politics in literature, film and other branches of the arts. It asks how artists think about politics and what political scientists can learn from the arts. To mark the launch of this module. Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy from Birkbeck’s Department of Politics discuss the first chapter of George Orwell’s 1984. For more information about undergraduate modules at Birkbeck, please visit www.bbk.ac.uk/politics

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College, University of London discuss current issues in British politics. In this episode, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy debate Boris Johnson’s lobbying scandal and Arlene Foster’s resignation announcement. For more information about research on politics at Birkbeck, the range of events run by the Birkbeck Centre for British Political Life and our undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes in politics, please visit www.bbk.ac.uk/politics

Beyond Westminster is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College look at politics outside the UK. It discusses events in other parts of the world and asks what if the UK had a political system closer to that of other countries. In Episode 3, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy compare UK and US politics in the light of the 2020 presidential election.

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College, University of London discuss current issues in British politics. In this episode, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy debate the Conservative rebellion over the English lockdown and what the US election means for the special relationship. For more information about research on politics at Birkbeck, the range of events run by the Birkbeck Centre for British Political Life and our undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes in politics, please visit www.bbk.ac.uk/politics

Beyond Westminster is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College look at politics outside the UK. It discusses events in other parts of the world and asks what if the UK had a political system closer to that of other countries. In Episode 2, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss Italy’s constitutional referendum and ask whether, in political terms, the UK is becoming more Italian. For more information about research on politics at Birkbeck, the range of events run by the Birkbeck Centre for British Political Life and our undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes in politics, please visit www.bbk.ac.uk/politics

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College, University of London discuss current issues in British politics. In this episode, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy debate the prospects for Scottish independence and the perennial politics of civil service reform. For more information about research on politics at Birkbeck, the range of events run by the Birkbeck Centre for British Political Life and our undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes in politics, please visit www.bbk.ac.uk/politics

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College, University of London discuss current issues in British politics. In this episode, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy explore the impact of COVID-19 on British politics and the tumultuous state of Brexit negotiations. For more information about research on politics at Birkbeck, the range of events run by the Birkbeck Centre for British Political Life and our undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes in politics, please visit www.bbk.ac.uk/politics

The newly relaunched Birkbeck Centre for British Political Life (BPL) will host a public-facing seminar on progressive Ulster unionism. With funding from the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, this seminar brings together journalists, political scientists, and historians, from Birkbeck and Northern Ireland. Representations of Northern Irish Politics in recent years have been dominated by the £1billion confidence and supply agreement between the Conservatives and the DUP; allegations of corruption over a renewal heating scheme; the contestation of abortion rights and celebratory cakes; and failing political institutions at Stormont. Such representations are often partial and superficial readings of the politics of Northern Ireland. But if the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that Britain’s tendency to ‘park’ questions of Northern Ireland is no longer sustainable. Given this new focus – and to better understand Ulster unionist’s position in UK politics, there is an urgent need for greater consideration of unionism; to explore voices from the wide spectrum of opinions which exist within modern unionism. The prominence of the DUP in the UK Parliament in recent years creates a narrative of an inherently socially conservative unionism. This excludes voices including other unionist parties, liberal unionists in favour of progressive reforms, and those who backed Remain in 2016. As attention focused on Northern Ireland during the Brexit impasse in 2019, major constitutional and social changes have occurred including the legalisation of both gay marriage and abortion. This seminar centres progressive unionism’s role in Northern Ireland as it enters a new decade where its relationship with the European Union, within the United Kingdom, and on the Island of Ireland are uncertain and subject to competing aims/perspectives. Speakers: Dr Sean Brady Lecturer in Modern British and Irish History at Birkbeck. His research focuses on gender, sexuality, politics and religion in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain and Ireland. He is currently working on a book entitled: ‘Sex and Sectarianism: Gender and Sexuality in Northern Ireland’s History’ Dr Sophie Long Dr Long’s PhD from Queen’s University Belfast was entitled ‘An Investigation into Ulster Loyalism and the Politics of Misrecognition’. She uses recognition theory to assess the experiences of loyalists in post-ceasefire Northern Ireland. Dr Long has also worked on the Northern Ireland programme at the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust from 2018 and now leads the Sustainable Future programme. Panel: Conor Kelly MRes/PhD student at Birkbeck’s Department of Politics. His research focuses on Northern Irish political parties attitudes towards the EU. Conor also works as a Research Assistant at the Constitution Unit, UCL on their Unification Referendums on the Island of Ireland project. Sian Norris Writer and journalist. She was formerly the Ben Pimlott writer-in-residence at Birkbeck’s Politics Department (2018-2020). Sian is a regular contributor to the New Statesman, the Guardian, the Pool, Prospect UK, politics.co.uk, and 50.50 openDemocracy. Claire Sugden MLA Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for East Londonderry. Ms Sugden sits as an Independent Unionist in Stormont due to her socially liberal views. She has a master’s degree in Irish politics from Queen’s University Belfast. Chair: Dr Ben Worthy Deputy Director of the Birkbeck Centre for British Public Life and Senior Lecturer in Politics. His research interests include Government Transparency, particularly Freedom of Information, as well as Political Leadership and British Politics.

Beyond Westminster is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College look at politics outside the UK. It discusses events in other parts of the world and asks what if the UK had a political system closer to that of other countries. In Episode 1, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy offer their thoughts on Ireland’s extraordinary general election.

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. In episode 54, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy look at the Conservative Party’s comprehensive victory in the 2019 general election. They ask what went right for the Conservatives and wrong for progressive parties.

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. In Episode 53, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss two recent works on Northern Ireland: Spotlight on the Troubles: A Secret History and Burned: The Inside Story of the 'Cash-for-Ash' Scandal and Northern Ireland's Secretive New Elite.

Helen Thompson gave the The 2019/20 Academic Lecture for the Birkbeck Centre of British Political Life on Thursday 14 November 2019. Helen Thompson is Professor of Political Economy at the University Cambridge, she is at present Deputy Head of the School of the Humanities and Social Sciences. She is a regular panelist on Talking Politics Podcast. Helen’s present work is focused on the historical origins of the post-2008 economic and political world and the crises it is generating for western countries. More particularly her recent work covers the political economy of oil, Brexit and the euro zone crisis. Her most recent book is Oil And The Western Economic Crisis, published by Palgrave. Her article ‘Inevitability and contingency: the political economy of Brexit,’ won the 2017 prize for best article in the British Journal of Politics and International Relations.

Description: Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 52, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy look beyond national coverage of the 2019 general election to explore key campaign issues in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the North of England.

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 51, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss Parliament’s response to Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal and new laws on abortion and same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland.

David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, held an ‘in conversation’ event with Sarah Childs to celebrate the re-launch of Birkbeck’s new Centre for British Political Life. David Lammy has been an MP since 2000, was a minister between 2002 and 2010, and is now a noted backbench campaigner. He began by reflecting on how his own life experience had played into his time as an MP and the campaigns he pursued, before offering his thoughts on a whole range of subjects, from the consequences of Brexit, to his time at SOAS and what it is like to be an MP. Listen to the podcast below to find out what he thinks about Britain, Brexit and being called a ‘passionate’ MP.

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 50, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal.

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 49, Professor Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss the domestic and EU context of Boris Johnson’s Brexit strategy as the October European Council approaches.

Description: Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 48, Prof. Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss Parliament's second vote against Theresa May's Brexit deal and what might happen next.

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 47, Dr Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss Parliament's Brexit amendments.

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 46, Dr Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss Parliament's defeat of Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 45, Dr Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss Theresa May’s decision to cancel Parliament’s vote on her Brexit plan.

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 44, Dr Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss Parliament’s five days of debate over Brexit.

This event hosted by Birkbeck on 15 November 2018 focused on and around topics from Eric Kaufmann's new book Whiteshift. The book argues that we need to talk about white identity if we hope to address the root causes of populism and polarisation. The West is in the midst of two epochal demographic transformations. First, the white share of the population is projected to drop to less than half the total by 2050 in North America and 2100 in Western Europe. Second, the mixed-race population is projected to rise exponentially late this century to form the majority in western countries by the early 2100s. The first phase of Whiteshift, which we are currently in, increases the existential insecurity of conservative whites and emboldens the cosmopolitan left, with its dream of radical cultural transformation. Left-liberal hegemony in the high culture and its attempt to stanch the expression of conservative anxieties in established institutions has delegitmated the cultural elite in the eyes of conservatives, opening space for right-wing populism and 'culture wars' polarisation. The advent of mass racial melting offers a way out of this impasse, if we are able to grasp it. Panellists discussed aspects of the theme of 'Right-Wing Populism and the Left' alongside Kaufmann's new book. PANELLISTS Eric Kaufmann is Professor of Politics at Birkbeck and author of the forthcoming Whiteshift: Populism, Immigration and the Future of White Majorities (Penguin Allen Lane, 25 October, 2018) Munira Mirza was Deputy Mayor for Education and Culture of London. She is author of The Politics of Culture: The Case for Universalism (2012). Trevor Phillips, writer and broadcaster, was formerly head of the Commission for Racial Equality and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. John Judis, author of a new book The Nationalist Revival: Trade, Immigration, and the Revolt Against Globalization (2018) and The Populist Explosion (2016), an editor-at-large at Talking Points Memo, a former senior writer at The National Journal and a former senior editor at The New Republic. David Goodhart, author of The Road to Somewhere: the Populist Revolt and the Future of Politics (2017), and The British Dream. He was founding editor of Prospect magazine, was director of the think tank Demos and is currently Head of the Demography, Immigration and Integration Unit at the think tank Policy Exchange. CHAIR Robert Singh, Professor of Politics at Birkbeck will chair the event. Robert is is a specialist in contemporary US politics and the politics of American foreign policy. He is the author of eleven books - including, most recently, In Defense of the United States Constitution (Routledge, 2018)

The Centre for the Study of British Politics and Public life held their annual public lecture on 13 November 2018 at Birkbeck College with Professor Alan Finlayson, who delivered a lecture on ‘The Changing Rhetorical Culture of British Politics: From Parliament and PEBs to Twitter and Youtube’. The event was chaired by Birkbeck's Dr Ben Worthy. One of the things that makes a political society what it is, is its rhetorical culture – the way in which it defines, organises and evaluates political arguments. That includes the places and rituals it establishes for the presentation of political claims and counter claims as well as expectations concerning the styles of political communication , norms about who can speak and ideas of what counts as a good argument. A key characteristic of contemporary British Politics is that its rhetorical culture is in considerable flux and may even be breaking down. As ‘traditional’ locations for political argument have been found wanting, communications technology has enabled the creation of new stages and the rise to prominence of different kinds of political actor with distinct ways of making political arguments. That has upended norms of what a good argument might look or sound like and expectations about what is an appropriate way to conduct political dispute That is why we spend a lot of our time not debating the issues but the ways in which they should be debated. In this lecture Alan Finlayson tries to put the situation into a larger conceptual and historical context, explore some of the new forms of political rhetoric emerging from digital culture and think about how we might manage this in such a way as to maintain and deepen our British democracy. Alan Finlayson is Professor of Political & Social Theory at The University East Anglia. He writes in particular about British Politics, Political Ideologies and Rhetoric and is currently involved in two research projects supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. “The Crisis of Political Rhetoric: Renewing Political Speech and Speech writing” is concerned with reflecting on how the art of political speech writing and speech making can be supported and developed in British Politics. “Political Ideology Rhetoric and Aesthetics in the 21st Century: The Case of the alt-right” is a study of how digital communication platforms are changing the ways in which political ideas are created, made persuasive and shared.

Recording of a two part evening event which took place on Tuesday 13th November 2018 addressing the celebration of the Centenary of Women’s Suffrage. The event was hosted by the Centre for the Study of British Politics and Public Life, at Birkbeck College. In the first half of the evening Dr Mari Takayanagi a Senior Archivist at the Parliamentary Archives delivered her paper ‘Celebrating Suffrage Centenaries’ followed by a Q&A Session. This was followed by a round table discussion with contributions from Mary Branson, Sian Norris and Dr Red Chidgey. Chair: Sarah Childs (Birkbeck)

Recording of an event which took place on Wednesday 6 November 2018 at Birkbeck. This was an ‘In Conversation’ with Jacqui Smith, Co-editor of The Honourable Ladies: Volume I Profiles of Women MPs 1918–1996 The book focuses on the lives and achievements of the Women who served as MPs between 1918-1996 and have shaped the political landscape today. There will be a chance to purchase a signed copy of the book after the event. Jacqui Smith was Labour MP for Redditch from 1997 until 2010. While Tony Blair was Prime Minister, she held junior ministerial positions before being promoted to Home Secretary in Gordon Brown’s Cabinet – becoming the first-ever female Home Secretary and only the third woman to hold one of the great offices of state. Following her parliamentary career, Jacqui has acted as a consultant for KPMG and featured regularly on TV and radio, presenting documentaries for BBC 5 Live and appearing on programmes such as Question Time and This Week. She previously delivered the Sky News Paper Review, alongside co-editor Iain, and the pair now co-host LBC weekly political podcast For The Many. Speaker: Jacqui Smith Discussant: Sarah Childs (Birkbeck)

This was round table discussion looking at how Australia and the UK compare in terms of the openness of their government, based on the views of two academics involved in the Open Government Partnership assessment process. Reflecting particularly on the two government's Open Government Partnership commitments, it also looked more broadly at the performance and workings of their respective Freedom of Information (FOI) regimes and other experiments in openness. Speaker: Daniel Stewart (ANU and Australia IRM). Discussant: Ben Worthy (Birkbeck College and UK IRM).

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 43, Dr Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss Boris Johnson’s resignation and his controversial tenure as Foreign Secretary.

Recording of an event which took place on Thursday 5 July at Birkbeck. Is the rise of populism in the West a threat to liberal democracy, or does it renew democracy by bringing new voices into the conversation? All panellists agree that elites bear some culpability for the rise of populism, but how should the system be reformed? The evening featured a panel debate between four high-profile speakers with contrasting views on this question. Claire Fox, Director of the Institute of Ideas and a regular on Radio 4’s Moral Maze joined Yascha Mounk (Harvard/Slate), author of The People vs. Democracy, Sasha Polakow-Suransky (Foreign Policy, author of Go Back Where You Came From) and David Goodhart (Policy Exchange, author of Road to Somewhere) to discuss these issues. Professor Eric Kaufmann of Birkbeck moderated the event. Facebook: www.facebook.com/BirkbeckPolitics/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/birkbeck-dept-of-politics Twitter: www.twitter.com/bbkpolitics Centre website: www.csbppl.com Department website: www.bbk.ac.uk/politics/

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 42, Dr Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy give a rapid reaction to David Davis’s resignation as Brexit secretary.

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 41 Dr Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy talk about Boris Johnson's no-show for the Heathrow expansion vote and Theresa May’s puzzling persistence as PM.

Recording of a round table discussion on current attitudes towards immigration, hosted by the Birkbeck Department of Politics. Chaired by Professor Rosie Campbell with speakers Professor Eric Kaufmann, Dr Kristoffer Ahlstrom-Vij & Anna Killick. The plight of many contemporary members of the Windrush generation has served as a moving reminder of the lives affected by government policy on immigration. Much of this policy was designed to respond to voters’ concerns about rising immigration. Certainly, interpretations of the publics’ attitudes to immigration have had a profound effect on our politics in recent years. Since the early 2000s the salience of immigration has risen up the public agenda prompting the parties to promise reductions in absolute numbers and setting targets for net migration as well – apparently – as repatriations. In this roundtable experts on public attitudes towards immigration debate how the statistics should be interpreted and how citizens, politicians and parties might respond. This is a recording of an event which took place at the at Birkbeck College on Wednesday 9 May 2018. Chaired by Birkbeck Professor of Politics Rosie Campbell. Facebook: www.facebook.com/BirkbeckPolitics/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/birkbeck-dept-of-politics Twitter: www.twitter.com/bbkpolitics Centre website: www.csbppl.com Department website: www.bbk.ac.uk/politics/

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 40 - recorded on the UCU picket line at Birkbeck - Dr Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy talk about the #strikeforUSS and its wider political significance.

How do we distinguish between truth and fact? Is there such a thing as an "alternative" fact? In the age of fake news and "fake news!", staff and researchers from Birkbeck College discuss how information is used in policy-making, public discourse and campaign politics. Panel: Sam Ashenden, Senior Lecturer in Sociology Rosie Campbell, Professor of Politics Andrew Fugard, Senior Lecturer in Social Science Research Methods Antonella Patteri, PhD candidate in the Department of Politics Ali Guven, Lecturer in International Relations & International Political Economy, chairs the event. This is a recording of an event that took place at Birkbeck College on Wednesday 21 February.

The Rt Hon John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons, delivers a lecture at Birkbeck College on parliamentary reform. Addressing the conclusions of The Good Parliament report (authored by Birkbeck's Professor Sarah Childs), the Speaker discussed his vision for a reformed Parliament and the principles which must underpin it. Since his election as Speaker in 2009, John Bercow has embarked on an extensive outreach programme, travelling across the country to visit schools, universities and community groups to talk about his role and that of Parliament. He has sought to champion the rights of backbenchers, and has ensured parliamentary business is dealt with in a timely manner to ensure as many MPs can contribute as possible. In addition, he has granted an unprecedented number of Urgent Questions in order that Parliament discusses the pressing issues of the day. This is a recording of an event that took place at Birkbeck College on Monday 12 February 2018. He is introduced by Birkbeck Professor of Politics Rosie Campbell. Facebook: www.facebook.com/BirkbeckPolitics/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/birkbeck-dept-of-politics Twitter: www.twitter.com/bbkpolitics Centre website: www.csbppl.com Department website: www.bbk.ac.uk/politics/

Description: Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 38, Dr Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy reflect on their 2017 predictions and offer some thoughts as to what 2018 may hold.

In episode 38 of our politics podcast, Dr Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy reflect on some emerging data about the June 2017 General Election and on the instability in Ireland’s supply and confidence arrangements.

Dr Duncan Kelly (Cambridge) speaks at Birkbeck College, a recording of an event on Tuesday 21 November 2017. This event was hosted by the Centre for the Study of British Politics and Public Life. The discussion is chaired by Dr Jason Edwards (Birkbeck). It is almost impossible to overstate the impact of John Maynard Keynes in the field of modern political economy, and certainly impossible to tell the political and economic history of the first half of the last century without at least some reference to his thinking, teaching and public presence. But what might be said about Keynes both in the context of the history of British political thought in that period, and also of the extent to which Keynes, as a political economist, might himself be considered an historian of political thought? This lecture attempts to engage these questions in two ways. First, by looking at Keynes’s attempts to redeploy the legacy of Thomas Malthus from the Great War to the middle of the 1930s, alongside his attempts to consider the nature of modern liberalism in general, it aims to consider to what extent this part of his wide-ranging output might actually be seen as an exercise in the history of political thinking. Second, and much more speculatively, by connecting up some of the ways in which contemporary debates about the interrelationship between environmental and financial crisis take us back to debates about political economy in the 1970s, might we see how the illustration of Keynes’s various ‘Malthusian moments’ may retain some resonance in contemporary debates about the interconnection between environmental and financial crisis. Facebook: www.facebook.com/BirkbeckPolitics/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/birkbeck-dept-of-politics Twitter: www.twitter.com/bbkpolitics Centre website: www.csbppl.com Department website: www.bbk.ac.uk/politics/

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 37, Dr Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy reflect on the power of the Prime Minister to hire and fire and the constitutional crisis in Northern Ireland.

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 36, Dr Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy ask who can be Prime Minister under Britain’s uncodified constitution.

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 35, Dr Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy reflect on the 2017 Labour and Conservative Party Conferences.

In the last decades British government and society has been opened up in all sorts of new ways. From the Freedom of information Act to Open Data and from surgeons’ performance rates to ownership of UK businesses, we know a great deal more about what is being done and spent in our name. New initiatives promise new openness about everything from gender pay gaps to executive bonuses. Exposés such as the MPs’ expenses scandal show what effect the new openness can have. But how open is Britain? How well do these new systems of openness and streams of data work? Can they be avoided or turned to politicians’ advantage? This seminar asks a panel of experts to discuss how open Britain really is and to look to the future and ask, as Britain moves into the opaque world of the Brexit negotiations and faces new and uncertain post-EU world, how open will the new UK be? Panel: Martin Rosenbaum (Journalist, BBC) Rosemary Agnew (Former Scottish Information Commissioner and now Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Professor Sarah Childs (Professor of Politics and Gender, Birkbeck College) The event is chaired by Dr Ben Worthy, whose book The Politics of Freedom of Information: How and Why Governments Pass Laws that Threaten Their Power was published in 2017. Facebook: www.facebook.com/BirkbeckPolitics/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/birkbeck-dept-of-politics Twitter: www.twitter.com/bbkpolitics Centre website: www.csbppl.com Department website: www.bbk.ac.uk/politics/

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 34, Dr Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy ask why political scientists failed to predict the 2017 general election result and discuss what's next for Theresa May's minority government.

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 33, Dr Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss the 2017 General Election two days before voters go to the polls.

Westminster Watch is a podcast in which members of the Department of Politics at Birkbeck College discuss current issues in British politics. It is aimed at those with an interest in British politics in general and students on Birkbeck's BA Politics module, Contemporary British Politics, in particular. In episode 32, Dr Dermot Hodson and Dr Ben Worthy discuss the British General Election 2017.