To top off a week of great presentations from our members at the @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social conference, we are hosting @andy-hunter.bsky.social online *today* at 12:00 (UK) on the psychology of belief formation. Sign up so you don't miss it! events.teams.microsoft.com/event/7b3e98...

This time next week, we @psapolpsychology.bsky.social are hosting an online talk by @andy-hunter.bsky.social intervening in some of the biggest ongoing debates in political psychology. Please do come along to hear about this fascinating research! Sing up: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/7b3e98...

📣 New job at Oxford's Centre for Advanced Social Science Methods (CASSM)! 📣 The Departments of Politics & IR (DPIR) and Social Policy and Intervention (DSPI) are hiring an Associate Professor of Causal and Experimental Methods. Come work with me and amazing Oxford peeps! Deadline NOON April 27th.

The first presentation of our spring seminar series will be getting underway this time tomorrow! Register so you don't miss a fascinating talk by @lalamur.bsky.social : events.teams.microsoft.com/event/a34888...

This time on Thursday, we kick off our Spring seminar series with a fascinating talk by @lalamur.bsky.social on the gender politics of contemporary dating! Sign up via Teams: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/a34888...

Trump has recently claimed to have 'won' the war in Iran, but also not 'won it enough'. How is that possible? @mbarnfield.bsky.social, from @qmulsse.bsky.social, has an answer for you in this excellent short read. Thx Matt for quickly putting my book to work! open.substack.com/pub/drmatthe...

Looking forward to presenting this work on dating, love and politics, co-authored with the fab @bertous.bsky.social at @psapolpsychology.bsky.social online seminar series.

We @psapolpsychology.bsky.social are putting on another online seminar series. The first presentation is in two weeks' time. Then they're every other Thursday at 12:00. Please come along to support and learn from our great line up of speakers!

My thoughts on the poll showing the Greens have overtaken Labour following the Gorton and Denton by-election, whether this could be a "bandwagon effect", and what that means, for The Conversation: theconversation.com/how-to-under...

Very pleased to share that I passed my PhD viva yesterday! Huge thanks to my lovely examiners @robjohns75.bsky.social and @profsob.bsky.social, and amazing supervisors @rosieshorrocks.bsky.social, @nspmartin.bsky.social and Ed Fieldhouse... 1/3

Latest piece for the @thehousemag.bsky.social on the Don't Knows - who are more likely to be women. www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

Love that there is now a bonus stage to accessing a journal article – before logging in via my institution using 2FA, finding my way back to the article from the homepage after doing so, and requesting to view the pdf twice – of verifying that I am in fact a human being capable of clicking a mouse.

My thoughts on what is (and isn't) at risk for Reform in becoming "Tory Party 2.0", given recent polling, the dynamics of bloc politics, and the party's popularity with 2024 non-voters: theconversation.com/reform-has-b...

Is it rational to expect to win elections? @mbarnfield.bsky.social argues so-called "wishful thinking" about election outcomes is part of how voters make rational sense of their role in democracies. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/04Lq36y @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @uoypolitics.bsky.social @sagepub.com

Thoughts in the FT on why I don't like the idea of an automatic by election if an MP changes party - but understand why some people do, along with a possible compromise... How to deal with defecting MPs - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT

Very pleased to see this out! Karl's conception of centrism as a structure for political action is really compelling

Good to see Labour politicians talking about blocs! labourlist.org/2026/01/avoi... If you want to know more, you can read our article introducing the idea in Britain here: academic.oup.com/pa/article/7... Also Green and Miori's excellent work here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Absolutely! I have been super reliant on Marta's excellent work

Blocs really are all the rage now huh. I would add that the work of @martamiori.bsky.social, @jamesdgriffiths.bsky.social and other ECRs has also gone a long way to making that happen!

We have just published a paper showing that, while informing (German) people about public opinion on climate change increases their perceptions of public support for policy action, it doesn't really increase how much they support it themselves. doi.org/10.1016/j.je... TL;DR: see Joe's thread.

Have to wonder how many of the “literary men” whose loss is lamented in this piece would have been labelled “performative males” in 2025. Here's to not mocking men for reading in 2026. www.ft.com/content/da33...

This article deserves all the praise it's getting, despite its egregious reference to the fish disco as proof of something or other. Particularly worth looking up @pollymackenzie.bsky.social stack on the misuse of "levers" as a metaphor... www.economist.com/britain/2026...

🚨 NEW BLOG Labour have won every election in Wales for 100 years, but they are on track to (badly) lose the 2026 Senedd election - why? @jaclarner.bsky.social and I have looked at new data, which shows how support is shifting within (not between) Wales's blocs! blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/thinking-wal...

"Labour’s... “red lines”—on reducing migration, on not raising taxes, and on not joining the EU's customs union... are still holding up. But the other “red line”... on graphs showing how many people intend to vote for Labour? Not so much." www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/718...

10 nuggets from the new "British General Election of 2024" book, courtesy of @timbale.bsky.social theconversation.com/the-ten-most...

Are Reform at their ceiling? @martamiori.bsky.social and I explored @britishelectionstudy.com data and found a high % of May 2025 Con voters could switch. We think it depends on intensity of preference and right-bloc party viability. Link here: politicscentre.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/opinion/cons...

In this short piece (also in PSA Insights this issue), @martamiori.bsky.social and I explain the bloc structure in what’s happening in GB electoral politics and why this matters. Nice and simple summary here: politicscentre.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/opinion/brit...

Pushing policy to new and never-before-seen boundaries of craziness. London is a great city! Not as good as Manchester, sure, but you can't have it all. That some Americans have convinced themselves that it is a dangerous hellscape is bizarre.

Is it rational to expect to win elections? @mbarnfield.bsky.social argues so-called "wishful thinking" about election outcomes is part of how voters make rational sense of their role in democracies. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/VudD2ir @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @uoypolitics.bsky.social @sagepub.com

Personal news! 📣 I'm very happy to share that today I've joined @dec-gr.bsky.social as a postdoc to work on the @tact-forsed.bsky.social project, studying conspiracy beliefs and democratic backsliding across Europe. Grateful to @galais.bsky.social and @mguinjoan.bsky.social for the opportunity!

Join and help to lead the Constitution Unit! @uclspp.bsky.social is looking for a Lecturer in British and Comparative Politics who will also join our senior team and contribute to our research and impact activities. Applicants must have, or be near to finishing, a PhD. Apply 👇

A short piece for Renewal on how the government's failure to present a consistent political argument is, despite its "long-termist" rhetoric, about not being orientated towards a political vision for the future.

Tune in to episode 103 of me *waving wildly at charts about charts* At least I aspire to never be accused of being boring!

NEW! How should Labour respond to the two key issues to voters of the economy and immigration and what are the electoral stakes this week of the budget? Read on for our answer... @nprcoxford.bsky.social @jrf-uk.bsky.social

NEW ARTICLE: @palesl.bsky.social, Vesa Koskimaa and I have an letter out in JOP, "Politicians talk less about the future as they age" doi.org/10.1086/739406 (1/10)

So good by @duncanrobinson.bsky.social on British politics' (young) "male gaze": www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Latest piece for the @thehousemag.bsky.social, on the island of strangers speech and similar. Also ft Bob Hawke. www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

Several recent studies have found that politicians aren't very good at estimating public support for policies. But we have little idea about whether politicians are good at knowing which issues are more important to voters. Our new publication has a first go at answering this question rdcu.be/eQGm4

Yesterday, we put out a report on the most important issues to voters. We know that immigration now tops the traditional most important issues question (see below from @yougov.co.uk). But that doesn't tell the full story. Here is a rundown of the experiments we did to test this out (A THREAD):

There is still time to register for today's (12:00) online Political Psychology seminar in which @stefaniereher.bsky.social is presenting work on public perceptions of politicians with mental health problems: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/e51a98...

*PSA EVENT* #Political #Psychology Seminar Series - Public perceptions of politicians with mental health problems in the UK with @stefaniereher.bsky.social, Rob Johns, @lbernardi.bsky.social by @psapolpsychology.bsky.social 📆 13 November ➡️ Full details and speakers

This Thursday 13 November (12:00 UK), @stefaniereher.bsky.social is presenting important work on public perceptions of politicians with mental health problems, in the third session of our autumn seminar series! Register to attend here: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/e51a98...

Breaking the tax pledge is the right call...and politically sulphurous. Reeves must argue, far more forcefully, that taxes are *the* essential downpayment we all pay for a fairer society. Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇 renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...

There's still time to register - looking forward to seeing you around!

Our autumn seminar series continues tomorrow at midday, with @klaramueller.bsky.social presenting important insights into causal inference in political psychology research. Register to attend: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/5edb84...

Is it rational to expect to win elections? @mbarnfield.bsky.social argues so-called "wishful thinking" about election outcomes is part of how voters make rational sense of their role in democracies. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/VwihdOi @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @uoypolitics.bsky.social @sagepub.com

This is interesting from @mbarnfield.bsky.social for @theconversation.com - theconversation.com/keir-starmer.... #labour

“I want it now, I want it now Not the promises of what tomorrow brings” Impatient to read more from the excellent research here from @mbarnfield.bsky.social @karlpike.bsky.social and @philipjcowley.bsky.social - wonderful colleagues from @qmulsse.bsky.social

My write-up for The Conversation on how a strategy of "short-term pain for long-term gain" could be losing the government support from the more short-term-focused of its voters: theconversation.com/keir-starmer... Trailed in the FT this morning (www.ft.com/content/e984...)

The always clever @mbarnfield.bsky.social sharing some excellent research today.