This podcast is for anyone interested in modern British political history from 1945-2010. The focus is generally going to be looking at the different governments that have come and gone during this period and I plan to typically use a book, documentary or other piece of material as a prompt each episode for discussion. My personal interest in this comes from being a longstanding modern British history enthusiast and having consumed numerous books, documentaries and newspaper articles on the subject over the years! Also my day job is working as a civil servant in government, so I have quite a keen interest in the history of modern policy-making and recent governments.My rough aim is to put out a podcast every three weeks, but this is solely a passion project, rather than something I get paid for. So that goal's very much life and day-job permitting haha!!Hope you enjoy the podcast! : )
15. John Major: An Unsuccessful Prime Minister? - with Dr Ben Williams
John Major was prime minister for longer than the last five we've had in the UK. What were his politics? Were they little more than Thatcherism with some of the hard edges taken off; or did he represent a more significant shift of the political dial. Thanks to Dr Ben Williams for joining me on this one to unpick these questions (and a few more besides!) Ben co-wrote the edited book John Major: An Unsuccessful Prime Minister? Reappraising John Major with Dr Kevin Hickson.
10/13/2023 • 41 minutes, 47 seconds
13. The EU's Role in Northern Ireland Peacebuilding - with Dr Giada Lagana
What is the often overlooked role that the EU played in Northern Ireland peacebuilding? What were the challenges of the EU getting buy-in from the Northern Irish community and how were these tackled? What lessons can be learnt from this for other peacebuilding initiatives?For this episode I was very grateful to be joined by Dr Giada Lagana, lecturer in politics at Cardiff university, to discuss all the above and more! Sources highlighted in the episode for those interested to learn more:https://www.iaces.iehttps://peaceplatform.seupb.eu/en/https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/wales-governance-centre/publications
8/27/2023 • 43 minutes, 56 seconds
12. By-Elections - with Dr Marc Collinson
Why are by-elections called; what myths and misconceptions surround them; and how much do they shed light on the national political picture?I was grateful to be joined by Marc Collinson for this episode - lecturer in contemporary politics and history at Bangor University - to tackle these questions and many more.Hope you enjoy the discussion! Recommendations:Chris (Lord) Rennard, Winning Here: My Campaigning Life: Memoirs Volume 1 (2018).David Butler, 'By-Elections and their Interpretation', Chris Cook and John Ramsden (eds), By-Elections in British Politics (1973): 1-13.Peter Sloman, '"Take Power - Vote Liberal": Jeremy Thorpe, the 1974 Liberal revival, and the politics of 1970s Britain', English Historical Review, 137 (2022): 1462–1492.T.G. Otte and Paul Readman (eds), By-elections in British Politics, 1832-1914 (2013).
8/19/2023 • 41 minutes, 43 seconds
9. Labour in the 80s: the Rocky Road to Recovery - with Associate Professor Danny Rye
Why did the Labour Party lose the 1983 election and what changes did the party make to put itself back on the path to recovery?We're joined by another real expert on the period for this episode - associate professor Danny Rye from Liverpool Hope University - to tackle these questions and more! Reading SuggestionsDrucker, H.M., (1979) Doctrine and ethos in the Labour Party (Vol. 12). Routledge.Hayter, D., 2005. Fightback!: Labour's Traditional Right in the 1970s and 1980s. Manchester University Press.Panitch, L. and Leys, C., 2001. The end of parliamentary socialism: from new left to new labour. Verso.Pugh, M., 2010. Speak for Britain!: A new history of the labour party. Random House.Russell, M., 2005. Building New Labour: The politics of party organisation. Springer.Shaw, E., 2002. The Labour party since 1979: Crisis and transformation. Routledge.
7/13/2023 • 39 minutes, 21 seconds
5. Special advisors - with Dr Athanassios Gouglas
In this episode we hear from Dr Athanassios Gouglas on the subject of special advisors. Dr Gouglas is a politics lecturer at the university of Exeter and you can find out more about his research here: https://politics.exeter.ac.uk/staff/gouglas/ In the coversation we cover why special advisors came into being, the benefits and tensions they produce in the system, and more!Dr Gouglas kindly supplied the following reading suggestions for those keen to go deeper into the topic: United KingdomBlick, A. (2004). People who live in the dark. The history of the special adviser in British politics. London : Politico's, 2004.Yong, B. & Hazell, R. (2014). Special Advisers: Who they are, what they do and why they matter. Oxford and Portland, Oregon: Hart Publishing.Orchard D, Gouglas A, Pickering H (2023). Life after Whitehall: the career moves of British special advisers. British Journal of Politics and International Relations Abstract. DOI.https://doi.org/10.1177/13691481221144228Internationally comparativeShaw, R. (eds) (2023) Handbook of Ministerial and Political Advisers. Edward-Elgar. https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-ministerial-and-political-advisers-9781800886575.htmlGouglas, A. (2023). The story so far: what we know (and don’t know) about ministerial advisers. In Richard Shaw (eds) (2023) Handbook of Ministerial and Political Advisers. Edward-Elgar. https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-ministerial-and-political-advisers-9781800886575.htmlGouglas, A. (forthcoming). Political Advisers in Modern Democracies. Dark Masters? Edward-Elgar.
