Peter Allen

@peterallen.bsky.social

1.9K followers 590 following 210 posts

Professor of Politics & Co-Director of the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Bath, U.K. / British politics, representation, public sphere / HOW TO THINK ABOUT POLITICS out Feb(US) March(UK) w/OUP / http://www.peter-allen.co.uk .. more

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Political science 76%

Sociology 10%

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Peter Allen @peterallen.bsky.social · Feb 12

My book is now available to pre-order from OUP ahead of a March 27th UK release date. Use the code AUFLY30 to get it for £11.89 — global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Peter Allen @peterallen.bsky.social · 5d

Santa Cl-oars

Peter Allen @peterallen.bsky.social · 9d

It is, but I was saying to a colleague that I would support having this in academic departments describing the former occupants of key administrative roles. “Dr X oversaw the calamitous curriculum review of 2018”, etc.

Reposted by Will Jennings, Stefan Müller, Peter Allen

Lotte Hargrave @lottehargrave.bsky.social · 9d

🧵 Thread on new research on gender gaps in “don’t know” responses

Some of you will know that my stellar coauthors @hannahbunting.bsky.social @cerifowler.bsky.social @jess-smith.bsky.social @annasanders.bsky.social & I have been working on a large-scale project on “don’t know” responses in surveys.

Reposted by Peter Allen

Matthew Holehouse @matthewholehouse.bsky.social · 14d

All the photography in this week's Economist Britain section is by Martin Parr

Reposted by Ben Worthy

Peter Allen @peterallen.bsky.social · 17d

My favourite of my own papers is on this exact topic (should be free to read) www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Reposted by Peter Allen

Stuart Davidson @stutheeditor.bsky.social · 19d

Martin Parr RIP
One of my favourite photographers. If you don't know his work, dip into the internet; it's a joy.

Reposted by Peter Allen

Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 19d

#7 for my @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social podcast countdown is essential reading (& listening!) for everyone- @peterallen.bsky.social on How to Think about Politics: A Guide in Five Parts newbooksnetwork.com/how-to-think...

Peter Allen, "How to Think about Politics: A Guide in Five Parts" (Oxford UP, 2025) - New Books Network

newbooksnetwork.com

Peter Allen @peterallen.bsky.social · 23d

It’s the playlist we all didn’t know we needed.

Peter Allen @peterallen.bsky.social · 23d

*sweary. Though ‘sweaty’ also works.

Peter Allen @peterallen.bsky.social · 23d

Is there going to be an accompanying anti-Brexit songs playlist? EU Supergirl, for starters ofc; that sweaty folk song too?

Reposted by Peter Allen

Morgan Jones @morganj0nes.bsky.social · 24d

Excitingly, my book now has a cover. You can see it here, where you can also now pre-order!

www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/no-sec...

No Second Chances

Between 2016 and 2019, a unique coalition assembled within British politics. Combining Corbynite campaigners and Conservative Cabinet ministers, celebrities and grassroots activists, seasoned politica...

www.bitebackpublishing.com

Peter Allen @peterallen.bsky.social · 26d

Fiction: I’m really enjoying Karl Ove Knausgaard’s Morning Star series (4 books so far, speculative fiction). Also recently enjoyed There Is No Antimemetics Divison by qntm (sci-fi).

Non-fiction: The Wager by David Grann is pacy and gripping, historical adventure.

Reposted by Tim Bale, Philip Cowley, Peter Allen

Renewal @renewaljournal.bsky.social · 28d

"If the government is to have any hope of getting itself back into the driver’s seat of our political moment, of getting its future back, it must start arguing in terms of a bold and coherent vision for the future."

@mbarnfield.bsky.social on the budget and the government's empty long-termism

This Labour government lacks a future

You might be forgiven for thinking that the Labour government is focused on the future. Since before his government’s first Budget, the Prime Minister has repeatedly asked the British public to stomac...

renewal.org.uk

Reposted by Simon Hix, Dave O’Brien, Stuart J. Turnbull‐Dugarte , and 2 more Simon Hix, Dave O’Brien, Stuart J. Turnbull‐Dugarte, Nick Clarke, Peter Allen

British Journal of Political Science @bjpols.bsky.social · Nov 24

NEWS -

The Politics of Imperial Nostalgia - https://cup.org/4p1QbRA

"right-wing opposition to criticism of the imperial past is stronger than left-wing support"

- Christopher Claassen & @danjdevine.bsky.social

#OpenAccess

BJPolS abstract discussing the nostalgia for empire in post-imperial European contexts, examining public opinion and attitudes towards imperial history.

Reposted by Peter Allen

Ray Newman @raynewman.bsky.social · Nov 21

BLOG POST: An attempt to put into words my *feelings* about generative AI and why (a) I don't like being tricked into consuming it and (b) I just don't care about things that are made using it.

precastreinforced.co.uk/2025/11/21/a...

AI farts stink up your art

Purely as a matter of aesthetics, on an emotional, instinctive level, I reject the use of generative AI in the creative arts. When people were playing with Craiyon a few years ago, I found somethin…

precastreinforced.co.uk

Peter Allen @peterallen.bsky.social · Nov 14

I don’t leave the house without mine, just in case.

Reposted by Will Jennings, Andrew Scott, Stephen Evans , and 2 more Will Jennings, Andrew Scott, Stephen Evans, Paul Nightingale, Peter Allen

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · Nov 13

Big scoop by my colleagues, this:

Starmer and Reeves ditch Budget plan to increase income tax rates

Chancellor explores alternative ways to raise revenue to fill fiscal hole estimated at up to £30bn

www.ft.com

Peter Allen @peterallen.bsky.social · Nov 12

Possibly a coincidence but £46k is roughly the top end of the main teacher pay scale in England (outside of London) www.nasuwt.org.uk/advice/pay-p...

Pay Scales (England)

The latest teachers' pay scales for England and academy trusts that follow the NASUWT’s pay policy.

www.nasuwt.org.uk

Peter Allen @peterallen.bsky.social · Nov 8

That opening ceremony was a celebration of a bunch of things that government no longer had the imagination, political will, or state capacity to achieve even by 2012.

Reposted by Philip Cowley

Peter Allen @peterallen.bsky.social · Oct 31

Everything you always wanted to know about the Bribery Act (but were afraid to ask)

Peter Allen @peterallen.bsky.social · Oct 31

‘However, avoiding and engaging with politics are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Often, both impulses coexist in people, especially when faced with something as simultaneously provocative and exhausting as hard-right populism’.

Great column by Andy Beckett. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

What would you do if democracy was being dismantled before your eyes? Whatever you’re doing right now | Andy Beckett

In California, daily life under Trump is marked by sporadic resistance and avoidance. Neither will defeat the autocrats, says Guardian columnist Andy Beckett

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Peter Allen

Karl Pike @karlpike.bsky.social · Oct 22

We are seeing increased illiberalism, and anti-liberalism, in our politics. The Labour party has a responsibility, as a government and as a centre-left political tradition, to counter this illiberalism, which takes different forms.
fabians.org.uk/hearts-and-m...

Hearts and minds | Fabian Society

Fabian Society

fabians.org.uk

Reposted by Tim Bale, Philip Cowley, Peter Allen

Matthew Barnfield @mbarnfield.bsky.social · Oct 20

My write-up for The Conversation on how a strategy of "short-term pain for long-term gain" could be losing the government support from the more short-term-focused of its voters:

theconversation.com/keir-starmer...

Trailed in the FT this morning (www.ft.com/content/e984...)

Keir Starmer needs to give voters short-term gain to persuade them he can deliver long-term renewal

Keir Starmer says painful decisions are needed now to fix the country for the future. But voters may not stick around to find out if he’s right.

theconversation.com

Reposted by Tim Bale, Philip Cowley, Peter Allen

Matthew Barnfield @mbarnfield.bsky.social · Oct 20

Great to speak to @greenmirandahere.bsky.social for today's FT Inside Politics about the latest finding from our politics of (im)patience project, w/ @karlpike.bsky.social and @philipjcowley.bsky.social.

www.ft.com/content/e984...

Labour sheds support from impatient Britons

Research shows party losing voters who want results now, with women more likely to prioritise short-term gains

www.ft.com

Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Tim Bale, Chris Hanretty , and 1 more Ben H. Ansell, Tim Bale, Chris Hanretty, Peter Allen

Philip Cowley @philipjcowley.bsky.social · Oct 20

Latest from our politics of impatience project - some excellent analysis by @mbarnfield.bsky.social showing Labour is losing the jam today voters.

Labour sheds support from impatient Britons: on.ft.com/48EaX4h

Peter Allen @peterallen.bsky.social · Oct 16

This is one of academics working on British Politics that might be of interest, I put it together back when everyone initially moved so might be missing newer arrivals go.bsky.app/EqXUQbt

Reposted by Peter Allen

David Klemperer @dmk1793.bsky.social · Oct 15

I’ve written a response to @samuelmoyn.bsky.social’s recent essay in Democracy Project - agreeing with him about the problem of gerontocracy, but suggesting his advocacy of weighted votes for the young ignores an obvious egalitarian alternative: compulsory voting

An egalitarian answer to gerontocracy

Debates about gerontocracy often focus on the age of leaders, but the deeper issue lies in the age of electorates. Older citizens vote far more than the young, skewing democratic outcomes. This blo…

blogs.bath.ac.uk

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