Michael Kenny

We're looking for a Professor of Public Policy to join our senior leadership team.

They'll play a leading role in teaching on the School's postgraduate courses, & make a significant contribution to its research & research leadership.

Apply by 9 February 2026: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/profess...

Geopolitical Risk event - Churchill Archives Centre A three-day residential conference from Churchill Archives Centre March 9-11, 2026: Cambridge, UK This conference is for leaders and aspiring leaders. It brings them together with historians, practiti...

This looks a v good conference on geopolitical risk and lessons from the past at the @churchillcol.bsky.social Archives Centre archives.chu.cam.ac.uk/geopolitical...

On the increasingly troubled relationship between science, evidence and policy; some thoughts, and proposals, from @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social and me.

Important piece on the challenges facing evidence-informed policy and how researchers and universities should respond (including acknowledging uncertainties and trade-offs, a wider understanding of what counts as evidence, and stronger connections between unis and local communities)

Come and work with us at the @bennettschool.cam.ac.uk ! Brand-new 2 year researcher position - details here www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...

Are you an early career professional looking to progress your career in digital policy? Our MPhil in Digital Policy is a multidisciplinary, practice-oriented, evidence-based course that focuses on the knowledge & skills needed to engage with policy issues relating to digital tech & AI
bit.ly/44LGTkl

Really excited to be recruiting to this role at @bennettschool.cam.ac.uk.

We're looking for someone to help broaden our connections between the school and the worlds of academia and policymaking.

Sound interesting? Details below.

www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/about-us/vac...

“I worry that sometimes the world of statistics can become a proxy battleground. Statistical debates about what to measure can be used as a way to transpose a philosophical or political argument about what we actually value in more cloaked and technocratic way.”

Yup

pbe.co.uk/insights/bey...

Really support this. We’ve been banging on about the importance of this community social infrastructure for a while including this recent report with @bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk on how it can be measured www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/value-o...

📸 A productive & inspiring team away day!

Team Bennett is hard at work planning for the exciting opening of @bennettschool.bsky.social this October 2025 - under the leadership of @michaelkenny.bsky.social & @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social

#Research #Teaching #Engagement #Impact

Heywood Fellowship The Heywood Fellowship is a visiting fellowship created in memory of Jeremy Heywood, Cabinet Secretary from 2012 to 2018. The purpose is to give a UK Civil Service Permanent Secretary the opportunity…

How can democracies think long-term?

The Heywood Fellowship team says the UK is being outpaced – and is building a plan for action:
🧬 Diagnosis
🎯 Objectives
🧭 Big bets
🔀 Trade-offs

Learn more about their call for a long-term national strategy + Spain’s example ➡️

The role of infrastructure in good growth – Academy of Social Sciences

New piece from me and @ojgarling.bsky.social on what kinds of thinking and policy on infrastructure now needed to achieve more equitable growth acss.org.uk/the-role-of-... @acadsocsciences.bsky.social

A more collaborative way of governing? Why the UK's Council of the Nations and Regions matters - Bennett Institute for Public Policy The Council of the Nations and Regions represents an opportunity to foster better relations between the key players in the territorial government of the UK – the UK’s central government, its devolved ...

Starmer is meeting with the devolved heads of government and English regional mayors today for the second instalment of the Council of Nations & Regions

Good time to read our report with @policywise.bsky.social to find out what it is & why it matters!

www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/publications...

YouTube video by PolicyWISE Watch the Webinar: "A More Collaborative Form of Governance?

Can tomorrow's Council of Nations & Regions meeting navigate the big and small 'P' politics of national and local #devolution?
Watch our webinar with @michaelkenny.bsky.social @alwalker.bsky.social & Dewi Knight www.youtube.com/watch?v=tru3...
Read our report www.policywise.org.uk/about/inter-...

The UK risks falling apart. Keir Starmer can mend it now – but he doesn’t have much time | Martin Kettle The PM has little choice. Unless he brings the fractured nations together, none can move forward, and neither can he, says Guardian columnist Martin Kettle

Shrewd overview of the politics surrounding the second Council of Nations and Regions summit happening this Friday - with reference to our brand-new report on this under-the-radar constitutional innovation (with @policywise.bsky.social) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Drawing on in-depth research, @alwalker.bsky.social & @michaelkenny.bsky.social set out why the Council of the Nations and Regions matters for devolution in times of political fragmentation.

In a new blog, they discuss what’s needed to make it work.

www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/blog/why-the...

Our new report is out! @michaelkenny.bsky.social, Dewi Knight and I look at the Council of the Nations and Regions.

This initiative has so far flown pretty under the radar, but we argue it has the scope to be significant.

Some key points below.

www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/publications...

Tomorrow! Join Dewi Knight, @alwalker.bsky.social and @michaelkenny.bsky.social to hear why the Council of Nations and Regions matters and the importance of working with all UK leaders no matter the politics....
Sign up www.policywise.org.uk/node/671
#intergovernmentalrelations #ukpolitics #webinar

Value of social and cultural infrastructure ‘risks being neglected in decision-making' without new measurement framework - Bennett Institute for Public Policy New framework for measuring the value of social and cultural infrastructure will more effectively highlight its crucial role in improving wellbeing and economic growth.

New @bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk @britishacademy.bsky.social report today on the need for policymakers to not overlook the importance of investing in social and cultural infrastructure, and how we might go about measuring it
www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/blog/value-o...

Challenging lists of cultural assets, our hidden gem of the week calls for measuring goods like networks that foster relationships.

By Dimitrios Panayotopoulos-Tsiros, @ojgarling.bsky.social, @annaalexandrova.bsky.social, @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social at @britishacademy.bsky.social

buff.ly/DtQ009T

🚨 New report from the Bennett Institute warns that social & cultural spaces like libraries, galleries & community hubs risk being overlooked without better ways to measure their impact. They’re vital for economic growth & tackling inequality.

www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/blog/value-o...

I participated in the @bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk Crossing Channels podcast series with a programme on the food system, diets and health. Interesting conversation with Jonathan Stieglizt, evolutionary anthropologist. Listen or read here: www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/posts/types/...

Great new opportunity, teaching on and researching public policy here, at Assistant Prof level here in Cambridge - please spread the word! @bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk

We're looking for an Assistant Professor to join the new Bennett School of Public Policy in September 2025, to play a leading role in the running & teaching of our M.Phil in Public Policy and PhD programme, & to also conduct original research.

Apply by 27 April 2025:
www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/50808/

Fantastic panel to discuss spatial inequalities and their consequences. Chaired by @michaelkenny.bsky.social @bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk

Really good session on 'forgotten about places' at @bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk conference this afternoon. Glad to hear the importance of social infrastructure get a few mentions! @michaelkenny.bsky.social

Left behind: can anyone save the towns the UK economy forgot? Soaring antidepressant usage, falling life expectancy: Blackpool embodies much of what is going wrong on the fringes of Britain

I’m at the @bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk conference and @sarahoconnorft.ft.com has mentioned Blackpool which gives me an excuse to link to her seminal article from 2017 in case some of you are too young to know it
www.ft.com/blackpool

Michael Kenny addressing the audience at Churchill College.

At @bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk for their annual conference today. "We are talking about these issues at a time of crisis," says Michael Kenny #BennettInst

Using Large Language Models responsibly in the civil service: a guide to implementation - Bennett Institute for Public Policy UK civil servants, along with officials at other levels of government and in other countries, face a potentially transformative moment in the adoption of digital tools with the availability of...

Really useful guide to using Large Language Models (LLMs) from my @bennettinstitute.bsky.social room-mate @alturobov.bsky.social.

Will definitely be of use beyond just the civil service.

www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/publications...