Research

Centre for British Politics

The intellectual hub of British politics research at the University of Hull.

Group lead

Dr Matt Beech

Email M.Beech@hull.ac.uk
Telephone +44 (0)1482 465724

Social media

Twitter @CBPHull
Politics GoToStage channel

The Challenge

To be the intellectual hub of British politics research at the University of Hull, publishing and disseminating research on British government, political parties, ideas and state institutions.

The Approach

The CBP is instinctively pluralistic in its approach to the study of British politics. Historical, institutional and ideational methods of analysis are employed. Intellectual liberty and freedom of speech underpin all that we do.

Politics and Legislative Studies students at Westminster

Aims

To study British Governments and provide ongoing policy examination through the publication of edited collections and special issues.
To support the undergraduate and postgraduate study of British politics.
To host the Annual Norton Lecture bringing leading scholars and parliamentarians to the University of Hull.
To build an international network of CBP Senior Fellows.

The Impact

We give evidence to parliamentary committees;
The CBP undertakes public policy consultancy in the private sector;
We provide talks and presentations to schools and charities;
The Centre explain political questions and problems through the national and international media
We facilitate public engagement in questions concerning British politics by holding public lectures with leading academics and parliamentarians.

Projects

Polarized Peoples

Dr Matt Beech leads, Polarized Peoples: Examining the culture wars and how we can transcend them. The project investigates the special problem of widening cultural distance within nations of the English-speaking world. Sharp ideological divergence, the diminution of toleration in the public sphere, and the catalysing effect of social media have perpetuated the pathology of 'war at home'.

The Johnson Government in the Age of Coronavirus

Dr Simon Lee leads this investigation of the ideas, policies and decision-making of the Johnson Administration from the outbreak of Covid-19 in March 2020 until he left Downing Street on 6th September 2022. It is CBP's seventh volume examinng British governments.

Interpreting UK Legislatures

This project between the CBP and UC Berkeley's Center for British Studies evaluates the impact of Brexit and Covid-19 on the culture and practice of British legislatures.

The Idea of the Good Society: Essays in Honour of Raymond Plant

This Oxford University Press festschrift, edited by Dr Matt Beech and Dr Kevin Hickson (University of Liverpool), critically examines the intellectual contribution of Professor Lord Plant of Highfield in the fields of political philosophy, social policy, social work and Labour Party policy.

Professor Lord Plant

Other bodies

Center for British Studies, UC Berkeley

Institute of European Studies, UC Berkeley

American Political Science Association, British Politics Group

Centre for Research on the English-speaking World, Sorbonne Nouvelle
Group members

Dr Matt Beech

Reader in Politics & Director of the Centre for British Politics | M.Beech@hull.ac.uk

Dr Simon Lee

Senior Lecturer in Politics | S.D.Lee@hull.ac.uk

Lord Norton

Professor of Government | P.Norton@hull.ac.uk

Dr Elizabeth Monaghan

Senior Lecturer in Politics | E.Monaghan@hull.ac.uk

Dr Chris Fear

Lecturer in Politics & International Relations | C.Fear@hull.ac.uk

Zeena Mistry

Politics PhD Researcher at the University of Hull. To what extent are British Indian voters increasingly voting for the Conservative Party? An investigation into electoral realignment. | Z.Mistry-2021@hull.ac.uk

Associate Fellows

Revd Dr Peter Munce

Dr Timothy J. Oliver

Dr Daniel Pitt

Dr James Silverwood

Dr Louise Thompson

Dr Joseph Tiplady

Senior Fellows

Professor Matthew Goodwin, University of Kent (2023)

Professor Tim Bale, Queen Mary University of London (2022)

Professor Gillian Peele, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford (2021)

Professor Jane Green, Nuffield College, Oxford (2020)

Professor Terrence Casey, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (2019)

Professor Mark Bevir, UC Berkeley (2018)

Professor Emmanuelle Avril, Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3 (2017)

Professor Sarah Childs, University of Bristol (2016)

Professor Anne Deighton, Wolfson College, Oxford (2015)

Professor Sir John Curtice, Strathclyde University (2014)

Professor Tony Wright, University College, London (2013)

Professor Andrew Gamble, Queen’s College, Cambridge (2012)

Professor Arthur Aughey, Ulster University (2011)

Professor Lord Plant of Highfield, King’s College, London (2010)

Professor Mark Evans, University of Canberra (2009)

Professor Lord Norton of Louth, University of Hull (2008) Inaugural Norton Lecture
Outputs and publications

M. Beech & S. Lee (eds.) Conservative Governments in the Age of Brexit (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2023)

M. Bevir and M. Beech (eds.), Interpreting Brexit: Reimagining Political Traditions, (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022)

M. Bevil & M. Beech (eds.), ‘Interpreting Brexit: Reimagining Political Traditions’, British Politics, special issue, Vol. 16, (2), 2021.

M. Beech & P. Munce, ‘The Place of Human Rights in Conservative Foreign Policy: Sceptics or Enthusiasts?’, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Vol. 21, (1), 2019, 116-131.

M. Beech & S. Lee (eds.), The Conservative-Liberal Coalition: Examining the Cameron-Clegg Government, (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).

R. Hayton & P. Munce (eds.) The Conservatives in Coalition: Principles, Politics and Power, Parliamentary Affairs, special section, Vol. 67, Issue 1, 2014, 1-118.

A. Gamble, ‘Better Off Out? Britain and Europe’, Political Quarterly, Vol. 83, Issue 3, 2012, 468-477.

S. Driver (ed.) ‘Narratives of British Democracy’, Policy Studies, special issue, Vol. 33, (2), 2012, 115-191.

S. Lee & M. Beech (eds.), The Cameron-Clegg Government: Coalition Politics in an Age of Austerity (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).

M. Beech & S. Lee (eds.), The Brown Government: A Policy Evaluation, (London: Routledge, 2010).

M. Beech & S. Lee, (eds.) ‘The Brown Government’, Policy Studies, special issue, Vol.30, No.1, 2009, 1-106.

S. Lee & M. Beech (eds.), The Conservatives under David Cameron: Built to Last?, (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).

P. Norton, ‘The Future of Conservatism’, Political Quarterly, Vol. 79, Issue 3, 2008, 324-332.

M. Beech & S. Lee (eds.), Ten Years of New Labour, (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008).

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Group lead

Social media

The Challenge

The Approach

Aims

The Impact

Projects

Polarized Peoples

The Johnson Government in the Age of Coronavirus

Interpreting UK Legislatures

The Idea of the Good Society: Essays in Honour of Raymond Plant

Dr Matt Beech

Dr Simon Lee

Lord Norton

Dr Elizabeth Monaghan

Dr Chris Fear

Zeena Mistry

Associate Fellows

Senior Fellows

Inspired?