David Deacon, John Downey, David Smith, James Stanyer & Dominic WringLoughborough University In media terms (and several other ways) the 2017 General Election has been quite a different campaign to the previous one fought only two years ago. This is primarily because, according to our research, Brexit has returned the issue of the UK’s relationship …Continue Reading

Jen Birks & Abi RhodesUniversity of Nottingham The role of civil society in election debates this time around has been as sparse as in past years. Individual voters, yes, have told roving journalists who they intend to vote for, and even given responses to particular policy pledges, in their droves. But organised publics in civil …Continue Reading

Emily HarmerUniversity of Liverpool Research into news coverage of election campaigns in the last twenty years shows that despite a number of key political changes, several key features remain consistent. News is often dominated by process stories about which parties are most likely to win, and women tend to be marginalised from substantive political discussions. …Continue Reading

Justin LewisCardiff University At the beginning of this election campaign it looked as if it might be the most lop-sided contest since 1945. Polls showed Labour lagging behind the Conservatives by a 16% to 22% margin – a level of Tory supremacy that even surpassed their landslide victory in 1983, when the Conservative’s won 42.4% …Continue Reading

Andrew GunnUniversity of Leeds Undergraduate Fees The Conservative party position on higher education is largely a continuation of the status quo. This is to be expected as the Conservatives are currently in government, and their Higher Education and Research Act recently passed parliament. Although, the party has stated it would ‘launch a major review of …Continue Reading

Julian McDougall Bournemouth University Readers here won’t be in any need of Foucaultian refreshment but, suffice to say, in these times of Trump, Brexit, almost fascist France, post-Truth and, probably, a Tory victory given up by exiled old Labour supporters via UKIP (WTF?), truth as contingent – and exercised in, rather than through, power – …Continue Reading