Dr Dave McKenna

I mean, professors have been looking young for a while.

Check out our featured case study of transition from committee to cabinet governance model, with a bountiful basket of top tips from #BrightonHoveCouncil. Essential reading for others looking to do this as it's packed with learning. #GovernanceChange #LocalGovScrutiny #ResidentFocused

Democratic innovation for change: A participatory corrective to deliberative hegemony - Oliver Escobar, Adrian Bua, 2025 The world faces social, political, economic, and ecological crises, and there is doubt that democratic governance can cope. Democracies rely on a narrow set of ...

🤔 What's the point of democratic innovation? Can it address crurrent crises and build democracies for the future?
💡In this new article @adrianbua.bsky.social and I argue that the field needs to strengthen its change-making orientation and capacity. Open access 👉🏼 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

A digital approach to reimagining democracy    - New Local Last month, New Local announced its partnership with Demos on Waves – the largest trial of digital democracy in Britain to date. The Waves project aims to create a digital democratic process that can…

“There is an emerging opportunity for councils to reimagine how democracy can be done better”.

Our Principal Practice Lead Liin Nur explains our ambitions for Waves – the biggest trial of digital democracy in the UK – and the solid foundations that the programme is built upon.

I’m having the calamari

Looking forward to day 3 of #LGAConf25 - pop along to stand A24 to chat about our latest research, last chance entry to the levy-funded Senior Leader programme, and our policy proposals on citizen engagement. And pick up a 21C councillor coaster!

Do love a train thread 🚂

Where there’s muck there’s brass? Or simply top brass maybe?

Nonprofit data jobs 2025-06-13 Vacancies at Cancer Research, Shelter, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and Good Law Project amongst many others.

Here's my weekly roundup of nonprofit data jobs. Subscribers received this yesterday buttondown.com/likeaword/ar...

I wrote a version of ‘breakout’ in BASIC on mine then retired from coding.

Fancy working with me? Want to do messy, community-led research with communities in Clackmannanshire? Then do I have the job for you!
www.stir.ac.uk/about/work-a...

Text on sparkly background says: 2025 LGIU & CCLA Cllr Awards Lifetime Legend nominate a councillor at lgiu.org

We want nominations for councillors who have made such a difference to #localgov that they are Lifetime Legends 🌟 Nominate your choice now for the 2025 Cllr Awards - it's super easy to do #CllrAwards lgiu.org/events/cllr-awards/...

Great to hear from the fantastic @joe-mitchell.com at the @publicinterestnews.org.uk launch of their 2025 Survey of independent news providers 🗞️🗞️

2024 was a big year for democracy and great to hear that the public interest news sector felt they had a big social impact!

councils should have their headquarters buildings in town centres, not in business parks miles from the nearest railway station - this is not me making a sociopolitical point but practical annoyance as someone who can't drive and who has to visit council HQs a lot

Absolutely, and on the sociopolitical point...

Like the ancient Greek agora, or the Roman forum, local political institutions should be part of the 'market place' - i.e., entangled in the places people go to do everyday things. Walkable cities, walkable democracy etc

Ian Thomas kicks off #StrongerThings, pointing out that the phrase "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" was coined by Benjamin Franklin in *1736*. So we've known it for a while...

By the way, is it 'AI' or 'A.I.'?

I mean, A.I. seems clunky, but AI is a three toed sloth*

*very hand towards the end of a game of scrabble

Ed Hammond: Rethinking combined authority scrutiny The convening power of mayors means we need to rethink governance and scrutiny in their areas, write...

Our deputy chief exec @se13ed.bsky.social says it's time to rethink governance and scrutiny for mayoral authorities, given their increasing power - and because of how they'll use that power:

Ok, I’d go for the Big Lebowski 😂

Yesterday we saw some of Calafiori in his natural position - left centre back. Isn't the unpredictability that he brings, from an unexpected area, exactly what we need to break down a low block? Could he, rather than any shiny new striker, be the biggest difference maker next season? #arsecastextra

Yep, enjoyed that. Obviously noticing the influence on apocalypse now. KK 10/10 for maintaining that crazy expression the whole way through 👍

Ok that’s next then

And if you had to pick one WH film to watch?

Phil Rumens and Cllr Sunita Gordon

I was delighted to be able to able to give evidence in Parliament today to the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee's inquiry on the Digital centre of government.

I hope I represented #localgov #digital well. You can watch and make your own mind up here: parliamentlive.tv/event/index/...

On the topic of in-person vs virtual committee meetings, here are the… | Dave Mckenna On the topic of in-person vs virtual committee meetings, here are the views of four scrutiny chairs. Who do you think is correct? Councillor Ali - ‘In-person only’ “In-person is so much better for d...

Here is a something I wrote about different approaches to in-person and virtual scrutiny committee meetings. #niche

www.linkedin.com/posts/mckenn...

I enjoyed Conclave. Not least because the plot revolves around a voting system.

There is similar ‘two-tone’ council housing built by Cuckfield UDC in West Sussex, late 1920s to early 1930s. Must have been trendy at the time.

Shame.

Technically an alderman in this case?