Research Fellows
For the last fifteen years, Mark Stuart has worked with Professor Philip Cowley in researching the voting behaviour of MPs. He helps to run the revolts website, www.revolts.co.uk. Since 2007, he has taught the 2nd year module on British Party Politics (formerly ‘British Parties and Elections’), and now also teaches the 3rd year module on Parliament in the United Kingdom.
His other main research interest is in political biography: in 1998, he wrote Douglas Hurd. The Public Servant (Mainstream, Edinburgh), and in 2005, he published John Smith. A Life (Politico’s, London). Mark is a contributor to the Dictionary of National Biography and writes a monthly political column in the Yorkshire Post.
Matthew Bailey
Matthew Bailey has published work on a variety of topics regarding British politics, in particular the Conservative Party and Margaret Thatcher’s election as party leader. Between 2005 and 2008 Matthew has also been working on the frontline of British politics – managing the constituency office of one of Hull’s MPs. With that experience behind him he has become poacher turned gamekeeper, assessing the representation of our political masters across a variety of fictional forms.
Recent papers on this subject include: ‘Sympathy for the Devil: must fictional portraits of politicians be so negative?’ (delivered at the 2007 Political Studies Association Conference) and ‘Stranded on the middle ground: reflections on consensus in post-war political film and fiction’ (presented to the 2009 PSA Conference).