Another brilliant Alice Bacon lecture organised by @cdpleeds.bsky.social! Super inspiring having the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer introduce a talk from the first female General Secretary of the TUC 🙌 and to have so many of my fab @polisatleeds.bsky.social students in the audience

The Backbench Business Committee 15 years on: has it given backbench MPs a stronger voice in the House of Commons? from yours truly with @louisevthompson.bsky.social for the @hansardsociety.bsky.social : www.hansardsociety.org.uk/blog/backben...

With @profsarahchilds.bsky.social at the Canadian Study of Parliament Group - a photo for @marcgeddes.uk #legislatures

An excellent and touching tribute to David Judge, an incredible thinker and scholar but also such a kind, supportive and generous academic. A huge and very sad loss.

Remembering David Judge (1950 - 2026). I first met David in 1999. He was such an incredible person, we could do with more Davids in academia. Here is something I wrote when I heard the news last week, published by @psa-parliaments.bsky.social: psaparliaments.org/2026/02/17/r...

Thanks to @hansardsociety.bsky.social for inviting me to write about the costed proposals for the Restoration & Renewal of the Palace of Westminster www.hansardsociety.org.uk/blog/restora... 2026 marks 10 years since I started researching R&R, so good to know it'll keep me busy for many, many more

And here's the costed proposals for Restoration and Renewal. Two options recommended: full decant and EMI+. Full decant will be cheaper and quicker - staying in the Palace during the works will means it takes up to 61 years and costs up to £18.7bn. Full link committees.parliament.uk/publications...

A very helpful box setting out both why this work is required & the cost of continued delays. As the intro to the report says: "Continuing in the same way is unsustainable, will lead to an expensive managed decline of the Palace of Westminster and will mean increasing safety and operational risks"

This is bleakly comic: six times when Parliament has agreed the need for a major programme of works to the Palace of Westminster, and yet we'll need another vote in 2026 and then a further vote in mid 2030.

Why we need to strengthen and codify small party rights in the House of Commons, by @louisevthompson.bsky.social for @conunitucl.bsky.social : constitution-unit.com/2026/01/26/w...

This morning the Scottish Affairs Committee published a report on the draft Scotland Act 1998 (Modification of Schedule 5) Order 2026. The report makes some important observations about how the UK and Scottish Parliaments scrutinise Scotland Act orders ⤵️ committees.parliament.uk/publications...

Great news to start the week - our article in Climate Policy Journal was #5 in views in 2025 - free access below:👇

Sadly storm Goretti has scuppered my travel plans (🦒🦒🦒aplenty), so I'll be following on Zoom. Sad for not being able to catch up with friends😔, but will follow programme online.

A great post by Jessica which gives an insight into each of the eight Guides on Citizen Engagement for Parliaments that we launched last month:👇

Friendship is going all the way to New Zealand, getting me a mug from the Parliament, keeping it for three years until we finally met in person last Friday and @bymyong.bsky.social was able to give me the mug, to add to my collection of parliamentary cups and mugs 😊 . Thank you Ben 🙏 .

Thank you for a fab conference! To you for organising it all and all speakers. Lovely to catch up with old and few friends, and to meet some people in person for first time. And for once it was a conference just down the road from me, no giraffes, a quick and easy trip for me😊.

Congrats Dr Martin! A pleasure to have acted as external examiner of your PhD 😊 (love the photo, and yes, I'm tiny...;)).

Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira has been involved in the creation of a pioneering map of the services that parliaments offer across the world on public engagement. Explore the International Parliament Engagement Network's map: shorturl.at/Brx9k Find out more about the project: shorturl.at/lG6S7

Busy day in parliament yesterday, with highlight of launch of our global map of public engagement services offered by parliaments across the world - which can be accessed now here: ipen-network.org/mapping-publ...

Happening now! Our colleague, Dr Laura Sudulich, presents 'Mapping Public Engagement in Parliaments Across the World' @ukparliament.parliament.uk, with POST. 🎙️ Chaired by @shane-martin.bsky.social, joined by @estrangeirada.bsky.social, Chair of IPEN #EssexGov #EssexGovImpact #UKParliament #IPEN

Our Guide on Youth Engagement for parliaments is now available to download - focuses on idea of 'meaningful engagement', avoiding tokenistic and/or elitist engagement, to nurture real opportunities for engagement: www.idea.int/publications...

Our Guide on Youth Engagement for parliaments is now available to download - focuses on idea of 'meaningful engagement', avoiding tokenistic and/or elitist engagement, to nurture real opportunities for engagement: www.idea.int/publications...

I know it's not the most exciting of topics, but Crickey, I really am invisible in BlueSky - no reactions other than from the lovely @adefty.bsky.social. It is a good article though, promise😊.

New publication with the fab @sofiaserrasilva.bsky.social - we develop a new typology about the roles of parliamentary staff within public engagement, showing their decisive role in the way parliaments present themselves to/relate with the public. Open access: www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandg...

Did you know that there have been 83 government defeats in the House of Lords so far this parliament? We have a record on our website of every defeat of this kind dating back to 2005! Find out more and sign up to our mailing list to be alerted of new defeats 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution....

We, at IPEN, have launched a series of 8 Guides on Citizen Engagement for Parliaments, each on a specific topic. Further info here, from which you can also access each guide as they get published: www.inter-pares.eu/en/publicati...

We, at IPEN, have launched a series of 8 Guides on Citizen Engagement for Parliaments, each on a specific topic. Further info here, from which you can also access each guide as they get published: www.inter-pares.eu/en/publicati...

Such a brilliant day, love graduation, when we celebrate our students' achievements. Congratulations PPS cohort! And congratulations Politics cohort too! Some brilliant students, it's a privilege to teach and support them, graduation definitely the highlight of the year😊🎉.

But this change didn't start with Starmer - and I think it goes wider than just voting. The whip is now also removed/suspended routinely for quasi-HR complaints, in a way it would not have been, say, 30 years ago.

The whip is now removed/suspended for more easily than it ever used to be. No Labour MP lost the whip under Blair because of their voting; those few cases that did were for things they'd said or done outside the voting lobbies.

One cancelled train three delayed trains and four trains later I eventually got home yesterday for 22:30, but really enjoyed being part of the first @studyofparl.bsky.social Welsh gathering to discuss what's to come with the Seventh Senedd. And such a stunning bay in Cardiff.

ON THE BLOG: 10 reasons why the hereditary peers bill should be amended to constrain Prime Ministerial patronage and the size of the House of Lords Ahead of the hereditary peers bill's report stage starting in the Lords today, our Director, Meg Russell, sets out why peers should amend the bill.

Congrats to @estrangeirada.bsky.social and IPEN colleagues at @universityofleeds.bsky.social for publication of Guide on Principles of Parliamentary Public Engagement: www.idea.int/sites/defaul...

NEW BLOG: 10 reasons why the hereditary peers bill should be amended to constrain Prime Ministerial patronage and the size of the House of Lords Ahead of the hereditary peers bill's report stage starting in the Lords tomorrow, our Director, Meg Russell, sets out why peers should amend the bill.

New article out with fab historian colleagues - 'Women's campaigning, petitioning, and grassroots activism, 1945-1997' (open access / free to access) 👇

Two vacancies for assistant professor (tenure track) at our Department of Political Science. One on International Relations, the other on EU Politics and Governance. I may be biased, but would 100% recommend applying. We are a warm, collegial, ambitious department. werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

Very excited to see the new edition of Exploring Parliament and our chapter in print 💙 Thank you @ameakin.bsky.social @estrangeirada.bsky.social @louisevthompson.bsky.social for all your fantastic work! 1/

Yesterday was the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk launch of @estrangeirada.bsky.social, @ameakin.bsky.social and @louisevthompson.bsky.social's book, Exploring Parliament. Meg Russell wrote a chapter with @danielgover.bsky.social and spoke at the event chaired by @drhannahwhite.bsky.social. Watch 👇

It's been fab to put together the 2nd Ed of Exploring Parliament with @estrangeirada.bsky.social & @ameakin.bsky.social. In this @psa-parliaments.bsky.social blog we asked some of our (73!) contributing authors to reflect on the experience of writing their chapters psaparliaments.org/2025/05/09/t...

And huge thanks to the @studyofparl.bsky.social for sponsoring our drinks reception. It was great to see so many SPG members there. We hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did 😊.

We had the most brilliant launch of Exploring Parliament this evening at the Institute for Government! Thank you to all the panellists, all the guests, and most of all to @instituteforgovernment.org.uk for hosting us, truly appreciated 🙏😊. V special also to have our own students attending 😊1/2:

Great to be watching the absolute dream team of @estrangeirada.bsky.social, @louisevthompson.bsky.social & @ameakin.bsky.social launch the fantastic Exploring Parliament book! 💕

There is still time to sign up for online attendance ahead of this evening’s “Exploring Parliament” book launch 📚

As a prep for the launch of 'Exploring Parliament', read this interesting reflection from authors about the benefits of academics and parliamentary officials collaborating to write about parliament - @psa-parliaments.bsky.social blog post: psaparliaments.org/category/blog/

Big day today! The launch of 'Exploring Parliament' - really looking forward to catch up with other authors and celebrate the book. Thank you to the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk for hosting us and to @studyofparl.bsky.social for sponsoring the launch. You can still register online👇:

Essential reading from one of the country's foremost experts on Private Member's Bills, our @qmpoliticsir.bsky.social colleague, @danielgover.bsky.social

On the 15th May, the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk are hosting a book launch for the 2nd edition of Exploring Parliament, edited by @estrangeirada.bsky.social, @louisevthompson.bsky.social & @ameakin.bsky.social Sign up to attend online: …stituteforgovernment.zohobackstage.eu/BooklaunchExpl…

ON THE BLOG: Exploring Parliament: working together to make sense of Westminster The editors of Exploring Parliament, @ameakin.bsky.social @louisevthompson.bsky.social & @estrangeirada.bsky.social explain why the book is necessary, and what readers can expect from its second incarnation.

ON THE BLOG: Exploring Parliament: working together to make sense of Westminster ` The editors of Exploring Parliament, @ameakin.bsky.social @louisevthompson.bsky.social & @estrangeirada.bsky.social explain why the book is necessary, and what readers can expect from its second incarnation.

On the value of a book such as Exploring Parliament, built around collaboration between academics and parliamentary practitioners: 👇