Tim Oliver

Radical right accommodation really does not work.

New paper out with this exceptionally talented team
@katharinalawall.bsky.social @robjohns75.bsky.social @drjennings.bsky.social @sarahobolt.bsky.social @zachdickson.bsky.social @danjdevine.bsky.social & @jack-bailey.co.uk

doi.org/10.31235/osf...

Article abstract, which says: The educational cleavage is restructuring electoral competition in many democracies, yet there has been insufficient attention on how variation in educational content affects this. In order to address this, this article combines English administrative school records with a unique representative panel of adolescents to estimate the within-individual effect of studying different subjects at school on political party preference. This analysis finds that studying arts and humanities subjects leads to greater support for socially liberal parties, whilst studying business and economics increases support for economically right-wing parties. Students who study technical subjects become more likely to support socially conservative and economically right-wing parties. These relationships between particular subjects and party support also persist into adulthood. As such, this article provides new evidence on the importance of subjects taken in secondary school for political socialisation, during the impressionable years of adolescence.

📣 NEW PAPER ALERT! 🚨

"School subject choices in adolescence affect political party support"

Just published in @wepsocial.bsky.social with @nspmartin.bsky.social and @rolandkappe.bsky.social.

doi.org/10.1080/0140...

🧵👇

Comparing registration systems using the International Difficulty of Registration Index (IDORI). How difficult is electoral registration in the UK? Abstract. Electoral registration in the UK is often critiqued for making it hard for voters to participate in elections. However, without a tool for a syst

Mine and @profsob.bsky.social paper
Comparing registration systems using the International Difficulty of Registration Index (IDORI). How difficult is electoral registration in the UK?
has been published. Please read it here,
url: academic.oup.com/pa/article/d...

A murder of crows: how a blog post deepened the conflict inside Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust The board says it’s committed to transparency, critics say it prefers ambiguity

Good, solid local journalism from @manchestermill.bsky.social on mental health care in Greater Manchester. A salient reminder of what local journalism is meant to be

manchestermill.co.uk/a-murder-of-...

The role of key European issues in the 2024 election campaign International crises and Euroscepticism have made European issues prominent in citizens’ lives. This article studies the role of three key European issues – migration, the environment, and EU integ...

🛎️ New Publication 🛎️

How did public and party priorities interact during the 2024 European Parliament elections?

In our new @wepsocial.bsky.social article, Daniela Braun, @giucarny.bsky.social @rosanavarrete.bsky.social @annreinl.bsky.social and I find some connections

tinyurl.com/yhc4ae8m

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The Brexit realignment amid electoral volatility: The role of party blocs in the 2024 General Election Abstract. Brexit accelerated the long-term realignment of how demographic groups vote in Britain. However, Europe is no longer salient to voters, support f

🚨NEW PUBLICATION 🚨

Though people have moved on from Brexit, they still vote in line with their Brexit preferences - with age/education still separating voters.

Voters now back party blocs, which matters greatly for Labour's current appeals to Reform voters.

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academic.oup.com/pa/advance-a...

Britain has one of most difficult voter registration processes, report finds UK system makes it a ‘real outlier’ among liberal democracies, according to study examining 62 countries

UK has a comparatively difficult registration process.

Our comparative analysis of registration difficulty in 62 countries is timely as Labour consider introducing automatic voter registration.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

To propose taxing the income stream that is essentially keeping UK higher education from widescale collapse is the sign of a government that has given up trying to understand the country it is meant to lead.

The failure of our public service broadcaster to actually engage with evidence is really quite staggering, sometimes. I recall, with a chill, their constant coding of any actual discussion of policy during Brexit as "nerd stuff".

Yes, there are only 6 Labour seats where the Lib Dems are 2nd. This is because the 2024 Labour vote was propped up by tactical voting between the two parties. Allowing Labour to win seats in Conservative areas... seats they won't be able to keep if their left-wing coalition crumbles

Out now (OA) in @electoralstudies.bsky.social. Do people in rural areas want politicians offering stronger representation to rural areas - as opposed to just their local area? Yes - based an original conjoint experiment in the UK (1/5)

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

How universities were sent over the edge UK higher education institutions did as the government asked and took on more students. Now many face collapse

“No single decision is to blame” for UK universities' dire financial situations, writes @rostaylor.bsky.social. “But many trace [the crisis] back to a decision made by chancellor George Osborne in December 2013.”
www.prospectmagazine...

I try and keep Tony Harland's advice on the 3 P's of lecturing - performance, passion, purpose - at the heart of mine. In particular, performance, as - "a performer has a deep respect for their audience." Something a lot of contemporary documentary makers could do with remembering!

A new home for the polling station finder Big news from the Electoral Commission's five-year plan.

Hey this seems sensible!

I wrote a while ago about how crazy it is British election infrastructure relies on a bunch of volunteer nerds. (takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/its-mad-th...)

Now the electoral commission is bringing it in-house!

democracyclub.org.uk/blog/2025/04...

The core trilma here remains the same - the govt needs to accept one of three things: high student migration, higher domestic student fees (or higher taxes to fund universities) or university bankruptcies. Those are the only options, given where we are. Pick one.

Also, the limpness of failing to stand up for something that this country has done well for decades, and is actually a key strength, is awful to see. Politicians need to be far more robust in defending our strengths against lazy opinion-havers.

Fairly sure that it is those post-1992s that do most in terms of social mobility. I am sceptical of these proposals for similar reasons - they are always economically (and culturally!) bad for a bunch of places that really do not need more bad news.

I also don't see how "mergers, campus closures" don't also produce damaging economic effects at a local level. Why does, say, York deserve a university, but Hull doesn't?

Learning to Stand on its own Two Feet: The Office for Students and the Crisis in Higher Education in England In order to address an ever-growing crisis in higher education in England, policy makers need tools capable of meeting the challenge. Yet the Office for Students has been roundly criticised for its s...

The OfS has too many goals, and too little independence. Both show through here, and both need to be changed for it to have any hope of being a source of solutions rather than new problems - onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The Kafkaesque investigation into our university looks like political scapegoating The Office for Students' so-called investigation into the University I represent was flawed and politically motivated. The implications for the hig...

Sussex's Vice-Chancellor states that the OfS investigation into that University was "flawed and politically motivated". The OfS's methodology was flawed, and its behaviour erratic - www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

What are the odds, I am left to wonder, that in a year we will be back here, with central government complaining that some of this money has been "wasted" on administration, when the requirements here raise administration costs for councils for their road programmes?

It is remarkable how little central government trusts local government. It is less remarkable, and more wearingly predictable, to see a new duty created for local government without specific money allocated to fulfil that duty.

📢 CALL FOR PAPERS 📢

🚨 Just over a week left to apply for this amazing opportunity with UKICE's @robfordmancs.bsky.social & @uniofmanchester.bsky.social 👇

@markzuckerberg pay up, mark x

Ah, thank you so much!

Hi! I was wondering if you have any demographic breakdowns here - is there a way for researchers to get in touch with you?

*Extremely* deep cut here, but I'm hoping the right nerds follow me. Does anyone know if French legislative elections between 1958-1966 had a threshold of 5% of *registered* voters or 5% of *votes cast*? I'm finding conflicting information (in English and in French!)

The Political Quarterly: Vol 96, No 1 Click on the title to browse this issue

Latest issue!

With @colmpm.bsky.social @pjsloman.bsky.social @gerryhassan.bsky.social @profsob.bsky.social @tjoliver.bsky.social @jwfurlong.bsky.social @lawrencemckay.bsky.social @psurridge.bsky.social @martamiori.bsky.social @profrosiecamp.bsky.social
 
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/1467923x...

Donate to Ukraine’s defenders The National Bank of Ukraine has decided to open a special fundraising account to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian government has a list of places where you can donate to the war effort here. I personally just donated $100: war.ukraine.ua/donate/

Slava Ukraini.

The Casablanca Deal: Secret contracts and unexplained payments at the University of Greater Manchester EXCLUSIVE: Senior executives at the university tried to divert hundreds of thousands in tuition fees into a private company which one of them owns

Local journalism is one of the cornerstones of a democratic society. @manchestermill.bsky.social's work on the University of Greater Manchester (formerly Bolton) is a reminder of just what we're missing as so many local papers become hollow shadows of themselves manchestermill.co.uk/the-universi...