In my latest piece I wrote that supporters of the assisted dying bill face four key challenges. If Lauren Edwards (2nd in the PMB ballot) is willing to reintroduce the bill, they *may* have cleared the first. But three remain. theconversation.com/can-the-assi...

This is valuable work, partly because it counters the idea that you can easily nudge the public into supporting climate policy. A three-hour active workshop increased support from either a minority to... a slightly larger minority, or from a slight majority to... a slightly larger majority.

On Thursday, MPs will hold this year's private members' bills ballot. Supporters of the assisted dying bill will hope to bring the bill back - allowing them to override the Lords using the Parliament Acts. But they face 4 challenges. My article ⬇️ theconversation.com/can-the-assi...

Latest piece for @thehousemag.bsky.social, in which I look at Mo Salah and the parasocial contact hypothesis. www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

We would be better off without the data. Not only are constituency polls deeply unreliable, but if they have any influence on the outcome, that a) is extremely inappropriate and b) will skew our understanding of British politics. drmatthewbarnfield.substack.com/p/if-polls-p...

Guardian are running a list of the 100 best “is Britain now ungovernable” articles next weekend

Some incredible passive voice from the guy who made this pledge

A write-up of the key findings and points made in this thread on my Substack: open.substack.com/pub/drmatthe... The way I see it, the argument that the public’s irrational impatience makes it ungovernable can’t be defended rigorously because it simply hasn’t been put to the test.

Here @robertshrimsley.bsky.social highlights something that risks being overlooked in the arg that public short-termism makes us ungovernable: Short-termism isn't just about the time you are willing to wait for change, but *how you make political decisions*. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 New Blog 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 A short piece on how the new Senedd voting system worked! How many votes did it take to win a seat? Was it proportional? Who benefitted? Where did parties win support? And what would it take to win one more seat? If you're interested: blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/thinking-wal... 🧵👇

Could a Labour Party rulebook expert correct me if I'm wrong here: have been told the 'but also...' bit is the case, but, if not, I'm happy to make clear that it's not the case should there be a challenge rather than a vacancy!

A brilliant thread by @qmulsse.bsky.social’s very own @mbarnfield.bsky.social about the public’s expectations about how long it takes to implement new policies and the impact it is having on British politics.

Looking forward to this - discussing what we can learn about PMBs from the recent failed passage of the assisted dying bill.

Is impatience killing the government? Some data and some thoughts. @karlpike.bsky.social @philipjcowley.bsky.social and I found a year ago that people expected noticeable improvements in the NHS, schools, housing well within Labour's first parliament. www.politicshome.com/news/article... 1/7

'Can the assisted dying bill be brought back? It’s possible – but supporters face four challenges' New piece by me for @uk.theconversation.com on the assisted dying bill in the new parliamentary session (starts Weds) - including use of the Parliament Acts. theconversation.com/can-the-assi...

It's pretty wild that in May there will be four different electoral systems used to elect the four national legislatures across the UK. If you're scratching your head trying to work out how each system works, then we have the explainer for you.

This time on Thursday, @yarasleiman.bsky.social will be presenting her fascinating work on how bilinguals process political information presented in their primary and secondary languages. Register to come along!: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/b44d8c...

Reading London Playbook ("The PM seems confident, which is why he got his PPS to text all Labour MPs last night begging them not to sack him / giving important context on the Mandelson case") has reminded me: this just came out (doi.org/10.1093/pa/g...). Possibly of interest to Thatcher 'fans', too?

It’s not the first time I’ve said this on Bluesky: you will always learn something from reading Matthew

This is excellent from Matthew, not only on the substantive issue but also on the promise and - crucially - limitations of experimental research and what we can infer from it.

Essential reading from @qmulsse.bsky.social’s @mbarnfield.bsky.social for anyone interested in how we communicate about climate change and whether it is as effective as many policymakers and activists think it is.

You desperately hope something's true and then your brilliant @qmul.bsky.social colleague comes along and shows you it's probably not, damn him!

I just published something on my Substack about one reason, among many, why I don't think communicating public consensus on climate change is anything like as powerful a climate policy tool as people make it out to be. open.substack.com/pub/drmatthe...

We are delighted to be hosting what promises to be a fascinating talk @yaseminulusahin.bsky.social, online this Thursday at 12:00 (UK). Please sign up to come along and hear about Yasemin's research!: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/651415...

I’ll be presenting our work on the 2023 election rallies in Turkey this Thursday at the Political Psychology seminar. We’ll explore how crowd events like political rallies attempt to define a vision of the future and who belongs in it. Register through the link to join..

One week today! Register here to attend what promises to be a fascinating talk by @yaseminulusahin.bsky.social : events.teams.microsoft.com/event/651415...

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...