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Department of Political Economy
School of Politics & Economics

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Centre for British Politics and Government

The Centre for British Politics and Government fulfils a need for a new interdisciplinary approach to British politics and government. Brexit has been a point of discontinuity generating significant political and systemic disruption. It has served to illuminate and intensify a wider range of circumstances and tendencies necessitating a renewal in political and governmental studies. They include reorientations in the party system; pressures on the future of the Union; evidence of new patterns in political activism; and the impact of communications technology.

The Centre is a vehicle for the work of the Department of Political Economy at King’s in the fields of British politics and government, employing the unique interdisciplinary approach that is characteristic of the Department. It draws on approaches ranging from history to economics to political science and political theory. 

Working with associates in the Department of European & International Studies, the Centre promotes a distinctive perspective on British politics and government, engaging with academia within the UK and internationally, the policy environment, and the wider world.

Questions at the heart of our approach

We seek to answer the following questions:

- What social and economic trends are the most significant to British politics and government? What are their implications?

- What are the main domestic and international challenges facing policy-makers? How should they respond to them?

- How well equipped is the British political and governmental system to respond to and manage these trends and challenges? In what way might it change to meet them more effectively?

- How should we theorise British politics in order to address these issues? How can the study of the past help has to understand them?

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

Witness Seminar programme

The Centre includes the Witness Seminar programme directed by Dr Michael Kandiah, which has an archive of over 100 seminars on a huge range of topics, such as the 1991 Gulf War, the Child Poverty Action Group, the development of Select Committees, Big Bang in the City, and the roles and functions of UK Embassies and High Commissions. 

Please email Dr Michael Kandiah for more information.

King's College London Polling Club

The Centre also includes the King's College London Polling Club, as supervised by Professor Roger Mortimore, which offers students the chance to learn about how opinion polls work through hands-on experience. 

Centre members

The Centre for British Politics & Government incorporates staff from the Department of Political Economy and other colleagues from King's College London, along with visiting Fellows external to King's. 


Our Research

People

People

Founded in 2010, the Department of Political Economy is the only department of its kind in the…

Departmental Seminars 2024/25

Departmental Seminars

Every week the Department of Political Economy invites guest speakers or academic staff to present…