106 people will be killed on Birmingham's roads next council term. Along with 15 organisations, we're calling for Birmingham's future leaders to adopt 10 practical steps to prevent these deaths and many more serious injuries. Who will make Birmingham's roads safer?

“When I began teaching, I joined UCU because the people in the union seemed cool – and because I quickly realised I needed to organise with my peers. If you’re feeling isolated or precarious at UoB, BUCU is where you’ll find your people.” Betsy Porritt - BUCU Anti-casualisation officer ​

The Spectator published this attack on me & colleagues just as the High Court is considering Sussex’s request for review of the Office for Students fine. It accuses us of ‘repressing’ our students. The magazine ignored my request for to reply. Please disseminate. alanlester.co.uk/blog/smearin...

UoB Professional Services - you make student success happen. Join Birmingham UCU to fight for fair workload and recognition.

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...

Kinder Scout is nice.

Look mum, I’m cited!

Scrapping REF should be “serious’ option”, says Manchester VC. Duncan Ivison questions “usefulness” of “massive, bureaucratic” research assessment exercise. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

NEW BLOG: Why we need to strengthen and codify small party rights in the House of Commons Louise Thompson explains the obstacles facing small parties and calls on parliamentary institutions to formalise informal arrangements and consider ways to increase equalities of opportunity for all parties

Monday and the start of a second week of being prevented from working by my employer, the University of Sheffield. Management has decided that massive damage to staff morale, student experience and the university’s reputation is worth it in a futile attempt to break the union. Shame on them.

HSE found UoB failed to follow its own stress policy, had inadequate stress risk assessments and no effective monitoring of stress. This is about legal duties, not ‘wellbeing extras’.

TRUMP: honk honk honk, I'm a big goose. everyone tells me whenever I enter a room, that's the biggest goose I've ever seen and I say yes. I'm a big goose. in a good way. a lot of Somalians are small stupid gooses but I'm a big goose BBC NEWS: a disciplined Trump sticks to the script on the economy

'Several universities’ undergraduate student intakes fell by between 20 and 30 per cent for this academic year, as many elite institutions reported record numbers.' Sector as a whole accepted 2% more students. Russell Group up 9% (29% of all UK enrolments). 1/3

I'm a bit late to the game on this, but this is exacting overview of the problems with US-style political science is compelling and well-worth reading. But rather than a lack of interpretation, I'd say the major issue is a lack of history (or historicism). harpers.org/archive/2026...

It's Blue Monday Like a stopped clock PR companies are sometimes right. Also like a stopped clock, they need two AA batteries shoved up them and the knob twisted until their hands point in the right direction. Birmingham: It’s Not Shit, Reason No 12: Mr Blue Sky paradisecircus.com/2024/11/19/b...

Ninety UK universities to have posted accounts so far cut 13,300 jobs last year, spending £303 million on severance pay - sector-wide total clearly going to be well in excess of predicted 10,000. Great reporting by @patrickjack.bsky.social www.timeshighereducation.com/news/pay-spe...

The average salary among Russell Group leaders increased above £350,000 last year, despite these universities losing almost 7,000 staff members due to cost-cutting. Patrick Jack crunches the numbers #highered #academicsky https://ow.ly/gJK850XU77K

Very pleased to have presented on this panel, although disappointed that I couldn't be there in person because of the snow...

'An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the Russell Group university “does not have appropriate arrangements in place” for managing workplace stress and was unable to demonstrate that it is managing the risks associated with excessive workloads.' 1/2

Thanks to @philbc3.bsky.social for a very interesting talk on the crisis of right-wing political reproduction at @unibirmingham.bsky.social yesterday!

“The whole system is near-criminal in its ability to harvest public money so that exploitative providers can provide inadequate housing & support to vulnerable people" For our last Naked Week-Observer investigation of the year, we delve into exempt accommodation observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Excellent article on landlords exploiting lack of robust regulations on supported exempt accommodation and causing misery for tenants and wider communities. A real problem in Birmingham! observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Thanks to @houseofcommons.parliament.uk and @houseoflords.parliament.uk for another brilliant visit! University of Birmingham ftw!

Traditional photo of traditional early start for @unibirmingham.bsky.social visit to @houseofcommons.parliament.uk and @houseoflords.parliament.uk.

Given that people is asking me for the numbers, here the table provided by UKRI:

After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results: - AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2% - ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1% - ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%

Meg Russell is now giving oral evidence to @commonsproccom.parliament.uk with @marcgeddes.uk and @stephenholdenbates.bsky.social about elections within the House of Commons. Read Meg, @alanrenwick.bsky.social and Tom Fleming's written evidence 👉 committees.parliament.uk/writtenevide.... Watch it 👇

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN 🎉 The PSA Parliaments Annual Conference 2025 will be hosted by the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of York in conjunction with The White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership on the 27th-28th November!

Michael Rush and the Database historyofparliament.com/2025/10/15/m...

The VC of Leicester has been announced as the new Chair of UCEA. He's been VC of Leicester since 2019. He's the one responsible for forcing out scholars in ways that employment tribunals showed was not permitted. The the kind of guy UCEA values. www.collectiveinkbooks.com/zer0-books/o... #UKHE

With thanks to @pressfuturist for remembering that it was Littlejohn v Self, not Bushell v Self, a literary conversation of the ages. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1390...

This. The Tories, Reform UK Ltd & even Labour hate the actually-existing British economy, whose comparative advantage lies in higher education & the creative industries.

🚨 Job Opportunity! 🚨 Applications are now open for a new 2.5-year postdoc at @edinburghpir.bsky.social to examine how parliaments gather, analyse and use different types of knowledge - see the full job listing here: elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

It's that time of year again. 🦉 www.youtube.com/watch?v=alSM...

Bloomsbury Set hangout. Nice venue for the Birkbeck / Birmingham / @psa-parliaments.bsky.social sponsored workshop on what is a parliament.

this is ridiculous

Very sorry to hear of the death of Prof Michael Rush, formerly of Exeter University. He was both an excellent scholar and a lovely kind man, always supportive of his colleagues and fellow academics.

📢📢📢 First systematic study of House of Commons specialisation in 40 years. 📢📢📢 Our typology is not perfect but we think it’s a pretty good start…

#SkyStorians One day workshop on oaths/oath-taking in Britain/Ireland/British Empire, 1600-present in London, 11 Sept. Supported by @socialhistsoc.bsky.social @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social & @hisjournalha.bsky.social. Sign up here www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/oaths-and-... See image for programme.

Wow. The police have searched seven properties in relation to ‘bribery and fraud’ at the University of Bolton (sorry, GM). The latest shockwave from @molliesimpson.bsky.social’s brilliant investigation for @manchestermill.bsky.social. manchestermill.co.uk/university-b...

I’m really pleased that the @psa-parliaments.bsky.social conference will be at @uoypolitics.bsky.social this November! If you work in the field of parliaments or legislative studies please consider applying More details on the website: psaparliaments.org/annual-confe...

I've been working on something on this and here's a sneak peek of recent trends in Politics job adverts on jobs.ac.uk Here's a scatterplot and (GAM) trendline showing that the number of advertised politics jobs has pretty much halved since 2021.

NEW: Getting to net-zero will be much cheaper than thought for the UK – and unchecked global warming far more costly, says OBR Quick piece / thread with 4 key charts showing, yet again, why climate action is far less costly than inaction 🧵 www.carbonbrief.org/... 1/6

NEW: Big study of low-traffic neighbourhoods in London suggest they cut road injuries and deaths by more than a third within their boundaries with no apparent negative safety effect on nearby roads. This feels a *major* boost for proponents of such schemes. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Last day to submit!

What is a parliament? This workshop aims to start a fresh conversation on this classic question in legislative studies. ⏰ You have two more days (deadline Friday 4 July) to submit a brief paper proposal. Sign up details below ⬇️

3 days left to submit an abstract to our "What is a Parliament?" workshop!

📢📢📢 CfP: What is a Parliament? ***Hurry! Deadline is this Friday!*** Interdisciplinary workshop on 19th September 2025 in London. Full details below. Kindly sponsored by Birkbeck, the University of Birmingham and @psa-parliaments.bsky.social Please apply and/or spread the word!

📢📢📢 CfP: What is a Parliament? Interdisciplinary workshop on 19th September 2025 in London. Full details below. Kindly sponsored by Birkbeck, the University of Birmingham and @psa-parliaments.bsky.social Please apply and/or spread the word!

And then, he was chair no more... Zia Yusuf turned Reform into an election winner – his angry resignation leaves Nigel Farage weakened theconversation.com/zia-yusuf-tu...