Two(!) permanent lectureships coming up at Cardiff: One in political behaviour/opinion cardiffuniweb.eploy.net/vacancies/52... One in British politics (very loosely defined) cardiffuniweb.eploy.net/vacancies/53... Feel free to get in touch and I'll be happy to answer any questions I can

In his 60s my late father moved to South Northamptonshire near Banbury. He was hospitalised under the Oxfordshire Mental Health Trust in his mid-60s. When he turned 65 he was transferred to hospital in Northampton. The reason? Adult & geriatric services seemed to have different geographic footings.

Stuart Hoddinott@stuarthoddinott.bsky.social · 2w ago

NEW BLOG: organisational boundaries in local govt, the NHS and police do not match up That's a problem for Burnham's devo ambitions He should intervene now to create an aligned system that paves the way for future public services devo More 👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/burn...

Essential reading from @jaclarner.bsky.social on the clear rejoin majority now in Wales. Turns out that English identifiers in Wales contain a distictively large number of folk who are still for leave. blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/thinking-wal...

From Leave to Rejoin: Welsh Public Opinion Ten Years On

Showcasing current research, comments and analysis on the law, politics, history, culture, government and political economy of Wales from the Wales Governance Centre.

blogs.cardiff.ac.uk

Sign o’ the times 😬

@willhaycardiff.bsky.social reflecting on what Wales need to make devolution work properly. And drawing lessons for the (quite different) regional/city region ‘devolution deals’ on which Burnham is hanging the UK Labour govt’s hopes. Essential reading! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

In Wales, I've seen what happens when devolution isn't done right. Here's what Andy Burnham must know | Will Hayward

In my country, devolution has been the equivalent of giving someone a new electric car without the capacity to charge it. That can’t be the model for the whole UK, says Guardian columnist Will Hayward

theguardian.com

Just leaving this here. May be of interest to @gsoh31.bsky.social nation.cymru/news/cardiff...

Cardiff University spends more than £10m on consultants in two years

Martin Shipton Cardiff University has spent more than £10m on consultants over the last two years, according to figures released in a Freedom of Information Act disclosure. A critic of the university’...

nation.cymru

Worth noting the stress placed by securocrats on hitting a target % of GDP for spending on defence as the marker of how seriously threats to the state are taken. Are they thinking about what UK break-up might mean for deep-water ports (Faslane, Milford Haven)?

The break up of the UK is not ‘unthinkable’ for all three First Ministers currently in office across the state. Mark Drakeford has been deeply committed to the Union, but his vision is of a voluntary union of nations. Only parochially metropolitan folk can still call break up ‘unthinkable’.

Lisa O’Carroll@lisaocarroll.bsky.social · last mo.

Public figures in Wales, NI, Scotland thinking the unthinkable: the break up fo the UK in the event of a Nigel Farage government We wouldn't want to be left with a rump English nationalist state - says Mark Drakeford. Unionists think Farage could endanger them www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

ICYMI Rhun ap Iorwerth, First Minister, Wales www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Political Thinking with Nick Robinson - 'A bad start even before he starts' - Welsh First Minister on why trouble's brewing with Burnham - BBC Sounds

Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, Plaid Cymru First Minister of Wales.

bbc.co.uk

Marion Kozak’s work on the ‘80s National Childcare Campaign & then Daycare Trust deserves the widest possible acknowledgement & celebration. Fed into Labour’s late 90s National Childcare Strategy and the Sure Start. Cameron ‘s Coalition deliberately destroyed Sure Start: a deeply regressive move.

The Past and other Places@pastandotherplaces.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Marion Kozak. Feminist, teacher and socialist campaigner who fought for affordable childcare and justice for Palestinians. #refugee #Poland www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Sarah Pochin MP has highlighted something which is unfortunately very true - football tournaments are always associated with a big increase in domestic violence. Absolutely nothing to do with the team - but very much to do with the culture that surrounds supporting the national team.

The planned meeting between Rhun ap Iorwerth and Keir Starmer will not take place in June as originally planned. The pair had been planning to meet to discuss potential constitutional changes for Wales. I understand that the Welsh Gov put forward several dates but the PM was unable to make them.

One of the secrets about the FT is that if you buy the paper they sometimes tell you what they really really think before some subeditor spots it. Compare the print and digital copy about SpaceX www.ft.com/content/1638...

As well as folk interested in Cymru, everyone interested in UK politics, Labour and Social Democratic parties or bloc politics needs to make sense of the Senedd election. A weekend watch of @jaclarner.bsky.social , your indispensable guide, here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bcH...

Welsh Parliament Election 2026 – What Happened and Why?

YouTube video by School of Law and Politics

youtube.com

Carry on Campaigning? Or Brexit as Not-So-Jolly Gents' Japes, plus Wives and Sisters making dinner. I have just done a rough and ready analysis of the 'talking head' contributions to the BBC's 'Brexit: a Very British Civil War'. A short 🧵about this Blokey Affair: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Brexit: A Very British Civil War - Series 1: 1. Demons Unleashed

The promise of a referendum helps David Cameron win a majority. Nigel Farage starts to campaign for Brexit. Boris Johnson and Michael Gove decide whether to back Leave or Remain.

bbc.co.uk

Dear England. @realbaddiel.bsky.social on R4 dissecting Sixty Years of Hurt. English National Identity and football is in the zeitgeist. But empirical analysis suggests Euro 24 activated already existing identities, rather than making a deeper changes. Ever brilliant @jamesdgriffiths.bsky.social

James David Griffiths@jamesdgriffiths.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The 2024 UK General Election had a bigger effect on national identity in Britain than Euro 2024 Sound surprising? Well, we found this as part of a paper accepted at @bjpols.bsky.social With the World Cup ⚽️ starting tomorrow, this is the perfect time to read more blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/thinking-wal...

Lovely to see work on NI environmental governance recognised...even if colour choice looks like a poster for an action movie in the 2010s #orangeandteal

ENDS Report@endsreport.com · 2mo ago

🎆 POWER LIST: ACADEMICS 🎆 Day four of ENDS Power List 2026 has arrived and celebrates the academics on the cutting edge of environmental science and regulation🔬 Congratulations to the 10 researchers, professors and scientists who were selected from a record number of power list entries this year🧵

It’s a grim not-so-merry-go-round for students trying to find their way in super-massive cohorts. @sylviademars.me point that many students using AI to get a 52 could do much better by not taking the shortcut lands hard with me. But 2.2 is a long way providing a smooth path to a legal career. Or 1/3

Colin Murray@colinmurray.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A thread for marking season. The ability to sustain a researched, organised and coherent argument over a couple of thousand words is still the bedrock skill being developed across the humanities. When we are being asked to ditch the essay in assessment, we're losing the point of what we're doing.

Fantastic news from NILQ - a very important generalist law journal and an invaluable resource in particular for folk concerned with territorial governance across Britain and Ireland. Well done @markflear.bsky.social and team who have steered the journal to new heights.

NI Legal Quarterly@nilegalq.bsky.social · 2mo ago

We are delighted to announce that from 2027 the journal will be published by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. The journal will continue to sit within Queen's University Belfast - School of Law, where it will remain an independent generalist law journal.

Potentially a very big deal. Changing the Westminster electoral system would fundamentally change our politics. Lesson from other countries is also that once FPP has been ditched it is unlikely to be brought back.

Rachel Sylvester@rachelsylvester.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Andy Burnham backs proportional representation for Westminster with a Labour manifesto commitment if he becomes leader. He also says he would work with the Greens. My interview for @theobserveruk.bsky.social Walk observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

👇👇Essential short Senedd election thread. Follow @jaclarner.bsky.social for Welsh politics analysis and data. 👇👇 A nugget in the thread shows that the absence/presence of British identity differentiates left/right blocs in Wales. Its a challenge to Wes Streeting’s ‘patriotic’ pitch to UK Labour.

Jac Larner@jaclarner.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Two weeks on from the Senedd election, here are a few reflections on what actually happened and what it might mean for the next four years. Thread. 🧵 jaclarner.github.io/jaclarner/bl...

Essential reading 👇

Wales Governance Centre | Canolfan Llywodraethiant Cymru@walesgovernance.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Newydd gan / new by @lauramcallister30.bsky.social & @jaclarner.bsky.social 👇 “voters sorted themselves more ruthlessly into two competing blocs rather than crossing the fundamental divide between them” #Wales #Cymru www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politic...

My take on the UKSC's Dillon judgment - it is a combination of regressive and dubious reasoning. It radically reduces the range of cases in which Art 2 is applicable, in reasoning which flies in the face of the UK Government's promises over the provision: ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/05/14/c...

Colin Murray: Hollowing out Northern Ireland’s Post-Brexit Rights Protections in Re Dillon [2026] UKSC 15

The Good and Faithful Servants One of the foundational assertions of judicial approaches to legislation in the UK comes from Willes J in Lee v Bude and Torrington Railway Co: We sit here as servant…

ukconstitutionallaw.org

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 New Blog 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 A short piece on how the new Senedd voting system worked! How many votes did it take to win a seat? Was it proportional? Who benefitted? Where did parties win support? And what would it take to win one more seat? If you're interested: blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/thinking-wal... 🧵👇

All change! The 2026 Senedd Election

Showcasing current research, comments and analysis on the law, politics, history, culture, government and political economy of Wales from the Wales Governance Centre.

blogs.cardiff.ac.uk

Interested in electoral systems and proportional voting? Essential reading from @jamesdgriffiths.bsky.social on the new (D’Hondt) voting system in Wales worked out.

James David Griffiths@jamesdgriffiths.bsky.social · 3mo ago

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 New Blog 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 A short piece on how the new Senedd voting system worked! How many votes did it take to win a seat? Was it proportional? Who benefitted? Where did parties win support? And what would it take to win one more seat? If you're interested: blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/thinking-wal... 🧵👇

Llongyfarchiadau mawr i griw @yougov.co.uk ac i griw @itvcymruwales.bsky.social a @walesgovernance.bsky.social sy'n gweithio hefo nhw. Big up the whole YouGov team and the associated ITV/Wales Governance Centre teams! yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

YouGov’s was the most accurate seat projection of the 2026 Welsh Senedd election

YouGov correctly predicted a historic shift in Welsh politics, with Labour’s dominance overturned by a Plaid Cymru and Reform UK surge

yougov.com

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c7...

This is an incredibly moving story of how sheer chance can change not only your life but your outlook on life. Imagine finding yourself in #Aberfan on that fateful day and and being lauded for the images of such heartbreaking sadness. 💔 #Wales #Cymru www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Aberfan disaster photographer wishes he had never taken famous image

Mel Parry took one of the defining images of the Aberfan disaster, but

bbc.co.uk

On Scotland, @robjohns75.bsky.social highlighted how independence still drives voting intention in Holyrood elections. Focus from unionist parties on "getting out the SNP" acts as a proxy for the issue because the SNP so much embodies independence.

On Wales, @jaclarner.bsky.social showed how national identity was changing in Wales, with more people identifying as only Welsh, and increasing Left-Right polarisation along the lines of Welsh vs British identification Reform also doing better than the Tories among stronger Welsh identifying areas