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The regeneration of housing estates illustrates the change in the Government’s narrative
Professor John Diamond (Director of the University’s I4P) argues that the announcement of funding to undertake an initial identification of housing estates which need ‘regeneration’ should not be dismissed: I am not suggesting that there has been a change in priorities where the allocation of resources is concerned. The amounts outlined over the weekend do…
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After the election: What next ?
The General Election result will, for those fascinated by the intricacies of such events, provide much fertile ground for endless speculations and interpretations. And there is a risk that these conversations crowd out some important questions as once again the daily media return their gaze to the succession competitions in the Labour and Liberal Democrat…
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The results are in: What do they mean?
As the results come in across the UK there are a number of headlines from the collapse of the Liberal Democrats to the rise of the SNP to the growth in votes for UKIP but with little electoral success. As with every election night the stories and speculation focuses on the individuals. So there is…
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How Northern Ireland’s parties could hold the balance of power
Northern Ireland might be a small place that has receded from the public imagination since the end of the Troubles and the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, but it might just be propelled back into the political spotlight. It remains religiously and politically divided along sectarian fault lines, but the 18 MPs that it returns…
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Why we are missing out on a genuine political conversation?
Over the past two weeks I have had the opportunity to sit and listen to ‘real’ people talk about their hopes and aspirations as well as their anxieties and fears. Their voices, as opposed to those which we hear on the news or indeed those that we engage in at conferences or workshops, provide a…
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Predicting results.. what works and what doesn’t
Predicting election results is a mix of art and science. We can all think of polls and pundits in the past who have got it wrong. But there are some signs observers can look out for to make at least a partial judgement. Yesterday (March 5th) I attended an excellent event at the BBC in…
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Unaccustomed as I am…..
This Spring sees the last lot of party conferences before the big event. Some are specific national conferences, like the Conservative Welsh Conference that has just taken place. Others are UK wide, like the Lib Dem conference due to take place later in March (13/14/15th) and Ukip’s event in Margate. Organisations such as “grassroots” organisation…
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Words… words…words
Is there any phrase more annoying than “hard- working families”? This seems to have entered the political phrasebook and is now trotted out by just about every party on just about every occasion. Some say it was first used in the 1990s although Liverpool University’s Dr Stuart Wilks Heeg has pointed out a use in…
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Why the public realm still matters
The idea of the ‘public realm’ is one which is unlikely to grab everyone’s attention. But it captures an important set of ideas and they are ones we tend to take for granted. At its heart is the simple proposition that the health of a good society can be seen through its commitment to shared…
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Vote: Politics is about more than political parties and the ballot box
Russell Brand caused a stir in the media and amongst the political classes in recent months as he questioned the value of voting in what he sees as a corrupt political system which fails to serve the poorest and most vulnerable in society. Whilst I might have sympathy with some of the things Brand says,…
