Ben Worthy
benworthy.bsky.social
Ben Worthy
@benworthy.bsky.social
Political science 65%
Sociology 11%
Pinned
My piece on Trump's Fascism for Political Insight 'Authoritarianism, mass arrests, political violence – Donald Trump’s regime fits the historical pattern of fascism' journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
The Fascism of Donald Trump - Ben Worthy, 2025
journals.sagepub.com

Reposted by Christina Pagel

A reminder of our great event with Professor @chrischirp.bsky.social about her Trump Action Tracker. Watch the video below
bbkbritpol.substack.com/p/watch-what...
Watch: What Is Trump Doing to Democracy? In conversation with Professor Christina Pagel, creator of the Trump Action Tracker
Recorded 30th October 2025
bbkbritpol.substack.com
Be clear, the American far right are coming for British democracy.
What an amazing essay from the former chair of Africana Studies at Bowdoin. I'll share a few sections in the reply but seriously, read the whole thing. It's all insightful and beautifully written.

lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com

Revolution by @quantick.bsky.social is one of the best books on the Beatles, and is, conveniently, about my favourite Beatles album.
The news is out.

Reposted by Ben Worthy

The news is out.

Reposted by Ben Worthy

Yesterday @alexparsons.bsky.social spoke at the Scottish Parliament about our views on the Freedom of Information Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Catch up on the evidence session and find out why we're really keen on the proposed proactive publication measures👇

www.mysociety.org/2025/11/07/a...
A key moment to strengthen Scotland’s Freedom of Information law
We gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament on how to make Scotland's already good FOI system even better.
www.mysociety.org

This is an invaluable, and extraordinary, bit of local government reporting from Kent County Council by @edjennings.bsky.social
Kent County Council is getting underway.

Slightly odd arrangements in place where usual press seats have been closed, leaving us in the public gallery, which has 14 seats. Far more than 14 people are here, leading to several journalists and others being left outside of the room.

But we’re in.

Reposted by Ben Worthy

I wrote this now to warning everyone about what to expect next from Trump and the GOP and how we can fight back. I hope you read and share. www.democracydocket.com/opinion/what...
What Comes Next After the 2025 Elections
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
Horrific, stupid news from @uniofnottingham.bsky.social — they are closing their music department. Apparently they all found out suddently in a meeting yesterday.

It is one of the best music departments in the country — solidarity with my colleagues and their students

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Music and modern languages courses suspended at University of Nottingham
In a statement the institution also says it is
www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Ben Worthy

The meeting has stopped for lunch now.

Thanks to everyone for joining me in this very long meeting.

If you're enjoying it, we also publish a newsletter with all of the latest from Kent. Subscribe for free here:
Kent Current | Substack
Independent news for Kent, covering news, politics, culture, and more. Click to read Kent Current, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
www.kentcurrent.news
Kent County Council is getting underway.

Slightly odd arrangements in place where usual press seats have been closed, leaving us in the public gallery, which has 14 seats. Far more than 14 people are here, leading to several journalists and others being left outside of the room.

But we’re in.

Reposted by Ben Worthy

History has taught us that this is precisely when Donald Trump is most dangerous — and when Republicans turn to voter suppression, election subversion and worse. With the 2026 midterm elections less than a year away, Trump is already plotting his next moves. www.democracydocket.com/opinion/what...
What Comes Next After the 2025 Elections
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com

A huge thank you to @eileenirvin.bsky.social and Ben Roff @ipsosintheuk.bsky.social for their great insights about British voters. Watch again below
bbkbritpol.substack.com/p/watch-list...
Watch / listen: What do we (really) know about British Voters?
In-conversation with Ipsos' Eileen Irvin & Ben Roff, hosted by Birkbeck Centre for British Political Life
bbkbritpol.substack.com
🔴 MPs are banned from been paid to give 'political advice' - but Lords can.

And guess what? Many Conservative shadow ministers in the Lords are being paid by the industries they’re meant to scrutinise.

New on Democracy for Sale

democracyforsale.substack.com/p/the-lords-...
The Lords’ Work? How Tory Shadow Ministers Are Cashing In
Many Conservative shadow ministers in the Lords are being paid to ‘advise’ the same industries they’re meant to scrutinise.
democracyforsale.substack.com

This discussion with @profafinlayson.bsky.social clarifies many things I'd only ever half understood. The concept (and fluidity) of Reactionary Digital Politics is very important.

Reposted by Ben Worthy

Really enjoyed this thought-provoking in conversation with @profafinlayson.bsky.social renewal.org.uk/articles/the... which is very timely as we start to organise the first Society for Hopeful Technologists community events
The left (still) doesn't understand the internet
Renewal 33.2_Finlayson & JeffreyRenewal 33.2_Finlayson & Jeffrey.pdf161 KBdownload-circle In June 2025, Nigel Farage boasted on Facebook and X that he had more TikTok subscribers than all other 649...
renewal.org.uk

This is excellent...as are all of these

Reposted by Christina Pagel

Watch @chrischirp.bsky.social discussing her Trump Action Tracker in our event, and reflect on what it tells us about democracy in Trump's America
bbkbritpol.substack.com/p/watch-what...
Watch: What Is Trump Doing to Democracy? In conversation with Professor Christina Pagel, creator of the Trump Action Tracker
Recorded 30th October 2025
bbkbritpol.substack.com
I'd never really thought explicitly about writing, how I do it, and why I do it, til this conversation with @catherinedevries.bsky.social Who makes it sound like I've thought it all through much better than I have... catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/etched-in-...
Etched in Marble: Anand Menon on Clear Thinking, Public Writing, and the Joy of Being Useful
Writers on the Forces That Shape Us and the Writing That Endures
catherineeunicedevries.substack.com

Reposted by Christina Pagel

A huge thank you to @chrischirp.bsky.social for speaking to us about her Trump Action Tracker www.trumpactiontracker.info
www.trumpactiontracker.info
I've written a couple of things over the last days about how the government and much of Westminster remaining on X as the platform becomes increasingly toxic is having consequences for our politics...
Our politics is increasingly normalised to racism – because politicians are addicted to X
The platform has quietly dragged British politics into a dark place
inews.co.uk
Yet center-right seems incapable of learning the lesson…
Now out in Party Politics 🎉

Our study (@jbpilet.bsky.social)suggests that when a mainstream right-wing party signals willingness to rule with the radical right, support for the radical right rises — while the mainstream gains nothing.
👉 A legitimisation effect.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Reposted by Ben Worthy

Europe is the elephant in the room in the Dutch elections - as in many other national elections, @carolinedegruyter.bsky.social says at election night at Dutch embassy in Berlin tonight

Reposted by Ben Worthy

If you want evidence that Reform thought they were going to win in Caerphilly then look no further than the fact the had arranged a "countdown to victory" event in the area for the day after the result.

Full analysis in my newsletter:
willhaywardwales.substack.com/p/wales-watc...
A true "instant classic"
Politicians’ Theories of Voting Behavior

Politicians’ Theories of Voting Behavior By Jack Lucas, University of Calgary, Lior Sheffer, Tel Aviv University, Peter John Loewen, Cornell University, Stefaan Walgrave, University of Antwerp, Karolin Soontjens, University of Antwerp, Eran Amsalem, Hebrew…
Politicians’ Theories of Voting Behavior
Politicians’ Theories of Voting Behavior By Jack Lucas, University of Calgary, Lior Sheffer, Tel Aviv University, Peter John Loewen, Cornell University, Stefaan Walgrave, University of Antwerp, Karolin Soontjens, University of Antwerp, Eran Amsalem, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Stefanie Bailer, University of Basel, Nathalie Brack, Université Libre de Bruxelles…
politicalsciencenow.com

Reposted by Ben Worthy

Reform's claims about the terrible state of Derbyshire's roads may have overstated the pothole problem.

And an #FOI response misunderstanding seems to be to blame:
Freedom of Information in the news – week ending 24/10/2025 – #FOIFriday - Words + Numbers
Complain to the ICO about your overdue Freedom of Information request! Because it actually works. A man who waited four years to get an answer to a Freedom of Information request from his local council described the delay as a "lack of accountability". Kevin Robinson-Hale asked what he said was a "simple" set of questions
clairemiller.net

Reposted by Ben Worthy

One top official told his staff explicitly not to write down too much, and to destroy handwritten notes after. But no public administration can function without records of important meetings. I suspect the Commission has simply created a new type of doc it pretends does not fall under FOI.

Reposted by Ben Worthy

The European Ombudsman "has opened an inquiry into whether the European Commission acted secretively in its dealings with industry before launching a series of business-friendly initiatives".

The Ombudsman was acting on a complaint by the Corporate Europe Observatory
www.politico.eu/article/ombu...

Thanks Tim! It will be recorded, so you can listen as you recover from your celebrations!