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Tom Chidwick

@tomchidwick.bsky.social

Historian | Author of "Now or Never! A History of the First Scottish Devolution Referendum" | Manager of @mileendinstitute.bsky.social

13 Posts119 Follower198 Folgt
Robert Saunders@robertsaunders.bsky.social · 4d ago

(This, incidentally, is why democratic states should not wire companies like Palantir into essential services. The problem is not the "values" of their owners. It's the coercive power it gives those owners over states to which they are openly hostile, and whose authority they do not acknowledge).

Philip Cowley@philipjcowley.bsky.social · last wk.

Of the six countries we polled, the UK was the only one where the % of people who think politics is focused on the short term outnumbered those who think it is focused on the long term.

Matthew Barnfield@mbarnfield.bsky.social · last wk.

Here in the UK, we’ve become used to hearing about how our politics is too short-termist. And we find that about two in five British voters believe British politics is focused on the short term, far more than in France, Germany, Italy, Spain or Poland.

Tom Chidwick@tomchidwick.bsky.social · last wk.

I'm over the moon that Annabel Goldie, former Scottish Tory Leader, has agreed to speak at my @mileendinstitute.bsky.social book launch on 18 November! We've got a fabulous line-up including the voice of Radio 4 and the author of THE book on Scottish nationalism so do join us! shorturl.at/mbkbi

Now or Never! The First Scottish Referendum and its Legacy, 1979-2026

Join us at the Mile End Institute to celebrate Tom Chidwick’s new book Now or Never! A History of the First Scottish Devolution Referendum.

eventbrite.co.uk

Colm Murphy@colmpm.bsky.social · last wk.

Really looking forward to speaking on this panel on 26 October, along with Kathleen Burk, @will-davies.bsky.social, and Stephanie Flanders. All welcome, sign up 👇

Robert Saunders@robertsaunders.bsky.social · 3w ago

On 26 October, we'll be marking 50 years since the IMF crisis by exploring the politics of economic shocks. What is it like to govern in an economic crisis? What happens when "the markets" turn on governments? And what does this mean for democracy? All welcome! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/politics-a...

Tom Chidwick@tomchidwick.bsky.social · 2w ago

It's a month today until my new book is published by @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social! Thanks to @mileendinstitute.bsky.social, I'll be launching "Now or Never!" at @qmulsse.bsky.social with a stellar panel featuring Carolyn Quinn, Ben Jackson and others. All are welcome so please do join us!

Tom Chidwick@tomchidwick.bsky.social · 2w ago

Next month, I'm going to be launching my new @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social book at the @mileendinstitute.bsky.social! Speakers include the voice of Radio 4 Carolyn Quinn, @politicalquarterly.bsky.social's Ben Jackson and a MYSTERY Scottish politician. Do come! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/now-or-nev...

Tom Chidwick@tomchidwick.bsky.social · 2w ago

It's a month today until my new book is published by @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social! Thanks to @mileendinstitute.bsky.social, I'll be launching "Now or Never!" at @qmulsse.bsky.social with a stellar panel featuring Carolyn Quinn, Ben Jackson and others. All are welcome so please do join us!

Tom Chidwick@tomchidwick.bsky.social · 2w ago

Next month, I'm going to be launching my new @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social book at the @mileendinstitute.bsky.social! Speakers include the voice of Radio 4 Carolyn Quinn, @politicalquarterly.bsky.social's Ben Jackson and a MYSTERY Scottish politician. Do come! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/now-or-nev...

Robert Saunders@robertsaunders.bsky.social · 2w ago

Public executions were not abolished out of tenderness towards the criminal. They were abolished because of the effect on the people watching, and the dangers of making human death a source of commercial entertainment. Here's Charles Dickens in The Times, after witnessing an execution in 1849.

"I have seen, habitually, some of the worst sources of general contamination and corruption in this country, and I think there are not many phases of London life that could surprise me. I am solemnly convinced that nothing that ingenuity could devise to be done in this city, in the same compass of time, could work such ruin as one public execution, and I stand astounded and appalled by the wickedness it exhibits. I do not believe that any community can prosper where such a scene of horror and demoralization as was enacted this morning outside Horsemonger Lane Gaol is presented at the very doors of good citizens, and is passed by, unknown or forgotten. And when in our prayers and thanksgivings for the season we are humbly expressing before God our desire to remove the moral evils of the land, I would ask your readers to consider whether it is not a time to think of this one, and to root it out. I am, Sir, your faithful Servant. Charles Dickens".
Mile End Institute@mileendinstitute.bsky.social · 2w ago

Calling anyone interested in the politics and policy of London! @elizabethsim0n.bsky.social and Patrick Diamond's new book - "vital reading for ... understanding the volatile political landscape in London" (H/T @robfordmancs.bsky.social) - is now available for pre-order. Order your copy now!⬇️

Elizabeth Simon@elizabethsim0n.bsky.social · 2w ago

🚨The Politics and Policy of London: Elections, Demography and the Reshaping of Power in the Capital is now available for pre-order.🚨 www.routledge.com/The-Politics...

Liesbeth Corens@onslies.bsky.social · 2w ago

YAY! Tickets now available! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-2026-a... Stefan Collini on '"Serious, but not narrowly professional”: the idea of a university-based general periodical in post-war Britain'. Should make for great conversation about the role of universities in 'serious' public discourse #UKHE

Liesbeth Corens@onslies.bsky.social · last mo.

OOOOOOO! Stefan Collini is to give the Nicolai Rubinstein Lecture! On 12 November at 6pm, @qmulsse.bsky.social is the place to be! Excuse to re-read his What Are Universities For?

Picture of a paragraph from a book. The underlined text reads: one rough and ready distinction between university education and professional training is that education relativises and constantly calls into question the information which training simply transmits. In this sense, education encourages the student to recognise the ways in which particular bits of knowledge are not fixed or eternal or universal or self-sufficient. That may be done about almost any subject matter though it can only be done through engagement with some particular subject matter, not simply be ingesting a set of abstract propositions about the contingency of knowledge. From: Stefan Collini, What are Universities For? (Penguin, 2012), p. 56
Tom Chidwick@tomchidwick.bsky.social · 2w ago

Next month, I'm going to be launching my new @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social book at the @mileendinstitute.bsky.social! Speakers include the voice of Radio 4 Carolyn Quinn, @politicalquarterly.bsky.social's Ben Jackson and a MYSTERY Scottish politician. Do come! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/now-or-nev...

Now or Never! The First Scottish Referendum and its Legacy, 1979-2026

Join us at the Mile End Institute to celebrate Tom Chidwick’s new book Now or Never! A History of the First Scottish Devolution Referendum.

eventbrite.co.uk

Philip Cowley@philipjcowley.bsky.social · 3w ago

For the last four weeks, I've been doing a slot on Matt Chorley's programme on Radio 5, in which we take an interesting or historic parliamentary vote and discuss its significance. So far we've done Norway (1940), the Shops Bill (1986), seatbelts (1981) and yesterday we did Iraq (2003).

Tom Chidwick@tomchidwick.bsky.social · 2w ago

It was a pleasure to host Lord Clement-Jones, Parliament's leading authority on AI, at @mileendinstitute.bsky.social last night. His experience and expertise will be a real asset to @qmulsse.bsky.social's staff and students as we grapple with the impact of AI on universities!

Mile End Institute@mileendinstitute.bsky.social · 2w ago

Last night, @mileendinstitute.bsky.social co-hosted the first in a new series of lectures by @qmulsse.bsky.social's Professors of Practice. In this special event hosted by @tomchidwick.bsky.social, Lord Clement-Jones explored how universities can shape, assess and showcase graduates for the future.

Peter Downs, Jaspreet Kaur and Lord Clement-Jones, SSE's first Professors of Practice, posing together for a photograph.
Robert Saunders@robertsaunders.bsky.social · last mo.

This will be excellent, from our wonderful @mileendinstitute.bsky.social manager Tom Chidwick! And we will of course be launching it at the MEI, with a great line-up of speakers. Keep an eye out for updates...

Tom Chidwick@tomchidwick.bsky.social · last mo.

I've (finally) made it to Bluesky so I thought I'd start as I mean to go on with some shameless self-promotion ... On 12 November, my new book on the first Scottish devolution referendum will be published by @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social, thanks to @atifajiwa.bsky.social! t.co/Rkv3VRWp29

Front cover of "Now or Never! A History of the First Scottish Devolution Referendum" by Tom Chidwick, which will be published by Bloomsbury in November 2026. It shows the delightfully eccentric "Sheriff" Peter Thomson with his "Last Chance for Scotland" against a Saltire background.