Michael Woods

Why has the 20mph limit become such a political issue in the Welsh election? Political parties are lining up to talk about where they stand on the 20mph urban speed limit in the Welsh election campaign.

Is the 20 mph speed limit debate coming back for Wales’s Senedd election? New post by me & @charliemuss.bsky.social for @theconversationuk.bsky.social discusses the what and why.

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At the very minimum, seems pretty rational to move away from a country trying to annexe you and towards others that aren't, even if it's just because they can't.

Environment issues have never been so fiercely debated in a Welsh election campaign as they will be in 2026 Rural and environmental issues are high on the political agenda in the upcoming Welsh election.

New article in @theconversation.com previewing the role that environmental issues might play in Wales’s Senedd election

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There is more logic to this than it appears. The DM’s nationalism is based on a fantasy that English culture is unique & the envy of the world. They’re terrified of the culture being diluted by migrants but the fantasy needs validation by people wanting to come here. Leaving offends this fantasy.

There’s something in this. Not LAs but there’s a case for using sortition for parish councils, starting with those with uncontested elections. If it works use it to roll out neighbourhood councils where there are no parishes.

Join our team: We're recruiting 2 x 3-year post doc researchers for the Rural-Spatial-Justice project at Aberystwyth, to undertake fieldwork on rural discontent & support for disruptive politics in the UK, Europe & USA. Closing date: 19 Oct. Details: jobs.aber.ac.uk/en/vacancy/p...

Where is Reform UK winning? This is a written version of a presentation to the conference of the PSA Elections, Public Opinion and Parties Specialty Group (EPOP).

This is a written version of one of our papers presented to the @psaepop.bsky.social conference in Exeter last weekend. open.substack.com/pub/ruralspa...

Where is Reform UK winning? This is a written version of a presentation to the conference of the PSA Elections, Public Opinion and Parties Specialty Group (EPOP).

TLDR spoiler: The Reform vote is remarkably consistent across rural and urban areas, marking a big departure from the UK's conventional electoral geography. But there are regional & local variations & differents in Reform's capacity to turn votes into seats. open.substack.com/pub/ruralspa...

Where is Reform UK winning? This is a written version of a presentation to the conference of the PSA Elections, Public Opinion and Parties Specialty Group (EPOP).

Where is Reform UK winning? Read our analysis of Reform's local elections vote across rural & urban England - and what it means for the electoral geography of Britain: open.substack.com/pub/ruralspa...

All ready for a busy couple of days with @lpipruralwales.bsky.social at the Royal Welsh Show. @lpiphub.bsky.social

Notes from Appalachia On the trail of Trump voters in eastern Kentucky

New on our free Substack: Notes from Appalachia. What's behind Trump's landslide in eastern Kentucky? Musings on our scoping visit & reading and thoughts on how we'll approach case study fieldwork (with a little myth-busting). open.substack.com/pub/ruralspa...

Already Lincolnshire results suggest a different pattern with some big Reform votes in rural wards. Which will be most typical at the end of the day?

Important pattern here in Northumberland: Reform doing less well (& Tories holding on) in more rural areas. Reform surge is urban & periurban. Will be interesting to see if this holds in other councils as results come in today

New open access paper on farmers, globalization, populism and support for Bolsonaro in southern Brazil, with reflection on qualitative methods in electoral geography. Based Rural-Spatial-Justice and Global-Rural research: periodicos.uff.br/geographia/a...

Rural Entrepreneurship Conference, Bangor, 3-5 June 2025
The abstract submission deadline has been extended to 5pm, Monday 10 March. More details are available here: www.bangor.ac.uk/events/22nd-...

"It is now possible to travel from Bandera in Texas to New Witten in South Dakota without leaving a county where more than 80 per cent of voters supported Trump, a roadtrip of over 1,000 miles". Read more in our free substack article: ruralspatialjustice.substack.com/p/review-of-...

RGRG sponsored sessions at the RGS Annual International Conference 2025
Details of all sponsored sessions are now available on the RGRG website: rgrg.co.uk/royal-geogra.... Please check each session link on this page for more information.

INTRODUCING RURAL DISCONTENT, DISRUPTIVE POLITICS AND SPATIAL JUSTICE Welcome to the Rural Discontent, Disruptive Politics and Spatial Justice Substack, where we’ll be exploring all things to do with rural politics and protest around the world and connections to disrupt...

We're new here so here's a quick introduction. We're a 5-year project selected by @erc.europa.eu & funded by @ukri.org on connections between rural discontent & disruptive politics through a spatial justice lens. Find out more about us here: ruralspatialjustice.substack.com/p/introducin...

Seminar on Nurturing Young Researchers in the Nordics Join us on the 16th of January for an inspiring seminar on empowering young scholars and their groundbreaking work, bringing together two prestigious prizes and distinguished laureates for a semina…

Oslo friends, a few (free) tickets still up for grabs to join this excellent seminar the morning of Thursday 16 January: lettenprize.com/2024/12/05/s...