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The Conversation

Politics + Society

John Healey and Keir Starmer speaking to each other in front of a white columned structure at the US Arlington National Cemetery

The return of Trump means Britain must rethink its defence strategy – and role in the world

Frank Ledwidge, University of Portsmouth

A pile of skulls

Auction houses still sell human remains – and it’s time they stopped

Caroline Bennett, University of Sussex and Alanna Cant, University of Reading

How council budget cuts are affecting domestic violence services – and those who need them

Edith England, Cardiff Metropolitan University and Josie Henley, Cardiff University

Woman listening and taking notes
Any hope of ‘getting Britain working again’ must not demonise people on welfare

Ruth Patrick, University of York

Liz Kendall walking in whitehall carrying a black folder.
What next for the special relationship? What Keir Starmer needs to navigate in a second Trump term

Martin Farr, Newcastle University

Collage of smiling photos of donald trump and keir starmer against a dark red background
Do refugees have a duty to be grateful?

Rebecca Buxton, University of Bristol and Matthew J. Gibney, University of Oxford

A large of men in orange life jackets crowded into a small dinghy, crossing the English channel
Ethnic minority voters: is there truth in old myths about why some groups are more likely to choose Labour?

Zain Mohyuddin, King's College London

Keir Starmer talking to guests at a black history month event.
What to know about ‘Red Ellen’, the radical MP whose portrait is now hanging at 11 Downing Street

Matt Perry, Newcastle University

Black and white photo of Wilkinson speaking to a large crowd of mostly men, around one of the lion statue in Trafalgar Square
Populist parties thrive on discontent: the data proves it

Rui Silva, University of East Anglia

Geert Wilders walking down a street surrounded by press microphones.
Why the German government collapsed and what to expect now

Katharina Karcher, University of Birmingham

Olaf Scholz stands at a podium in front of German and EU flags
Kemi Badenoch with Robert Jenrick in the background

Kemi Badenoch: the three (very difficult) tasks that lie ahead for the new Conservative party leader

Mark Bennister, University of Lincoln and Ben Worthy, Birkbeck, University of London

A statue of Paddington Bear carrying a suitcase and tipping his hat, on a platform at Paddington station

Paddington gets a British passport – but the Home Office treats real refugees very differently

Katie Tonkiss, Aston University

A row of terraced homes above shops and restaurants.

The true class divide in British politics is not which party people choose, but whether they vote at all

Oliver Heath, Royal Holloway University of London and Laura Serra, London School of Economics and Political Science

YouTube is limiting recommendations of weight and fitness videos to teenagers

Danielle Paddock, Sheffield Hallam University

Girl looking at phone
Why the Tories may be wasting their time trying to compete with Reform

Paul Whiteley, University of Essex

Nigel Farage in front of a union flag with fireworks going off behind him
Conservative leadership contest: what we know about how MPs voted in race between Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick

David Jeffery, University of Liverpool

Kemi Badenoch

Class and politics

Nigel Farage speaking.

Nigel Farage, AI and the revolt of the squeezed middle: class politics is about to get messier than ever

Laura Hood, The Conversation

Class identity: why fancy freebies are a bigger political problem for this Labour government than its Tory predecessors

Vladimir Bortun, University of Oxford

Angela Rayner and Keir Starmer
Does Britain have a working-class parliament? What Labour’s election win means for representation

Laura Hood, The Conversation

Angela Rayner swearing on a bible in the House of Commons.
What does class mean today in Britain? Podcast

Laura Hood, The Conversation

A man on his phone in an alleyway, next to two delivery cyclists taking a break on their phones.
Thatcher, Blair and a brief history of class in British politics – podcast

Laura Hood, The Conversation

Tony and Cherie Blair shake hands of supportes outside Downing Street.
Kemi Badenoch dressed in a McDonald's uniform standing at a chip fryer putting chips in a McDonald's box.

Can Kemi Badenoch claim to have ‘become working class’ while working in McDonald’s – and why would she want to?

Michael Rees, Nottingham Trent University

Boris Johnson stands in front of a blow-up version of himself.

When did class stop predicting who people vote for in Britain? Know Your Place podcast

Laura Hood, The Conversation

Check out our new podcast on class and politics in Britain

Listen now
Upset girl at computer

Students with special educational needs are years behind their peers – they need specialist teachers in mainstream classrooms

Johny Daniel, Durham University

Girl and woman looking at computer

There’s a crisis in special educational needs provision: here’s the situation across the UK and Ireland

Cathryn Knight, University of Bristol; Joanne Banks, Trinity College Dublin, and Noel Purdy, Queen's University Belfast

A large of men in orange life jackets crowded into a small dinghy, crossing the English channel

Do refugees have a duty to be grateful?

Rebecca Buxton, University of Bristol and Matthew J. Gibney, University of Oxford

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A view of the inside of the House of Lords chamber.

Britain is finally abolishing hereditary peers from the House of Lords – a constitutional expert on the historical reforms that built up to this moment

Meg Russell, UCL

UK election: Reform and Green members campaigned more online – but pounded the pavements less

Tim Bale, Queen Mary University of London; Paul Webb, University of Sussex, and Stavroula Chrona, University of Sussex

A man wearing a Reform rosette standing in a queue.
How a doubling of sentence lengths helped pack England’s prisons to the rafters

Jessica Gallagher, Birmingham City University

The 'go to jail' square on a Monopoly board
Chagos islands: what the UK-Mauritius agreement means for displaced Chagossians

Laura Jeffery, University of Edinburgh

A man sitting on a bench with three woven palm baskets beside him.
Getting shorter and going hungrier: how children in the UK live today

Danny Dorling, University of Oxford

Sad girl hugs knees sitting on sofa
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Most read this week

Cities

A police officer walking towards a large green camping tent in a public park

While some cities clear homeless encampments, others are granting a ‘right to shelter’

Tiger Hills, University of Oxford

Blackpool: why seaside towns in England are struggling – and what they’re doing about it

Heather Brown, Lancaster University; Amelia Simpson, Lancaster University, and Reuben Larbi, Lancaster University

Grey skies over a beach.
How second world war bomb rubble was used to make 135 football pitches in east London

Jonathan Gardner, University of Edinburgh

An overhead view of a large urban playing field.
Gurdwaras, mosques, temples and churches: how faith groups are reviving England’s old cinemas

Kate Jordan, University of Westminster

A large cinema building with a poster on the front.
When a skatepark becomes a sacred space

Paul O'Connor, University of Exeter

A painted mural in a skatepark.

Editors' picks

Research shows our understanding of ‘posh’ words is all wrong

Natalie Braber, Nottingham Trent University and Rhys Sandow, University of Sussex

View from behind of a man and woman dressed up in hats and formal outfits at the horse races
How images of knives intended to stop youth knife crime may actually be making things worse

Charlotte Coleman, Sheffield Hallam University and Jess Scott-Lewis, Sheffield Hallam University

View from the street of two teen boys walking and cycling from school in front of a house
Many asylum seekers are persecuted for what they believe in – but what about those who don’t believe?

Lucy Potter, University of Sheffield

Overhead view of a large crowd of Muslim men gathering in a square for prayer, kneeling side by side in rows
When to give your child their first mobile phone – and how to keep them safe

Andy Phippen, Bournemouth University

Girl in bed looking at mobile phone

Women

The return of 90s culture echoes a backlash to feminism that we’ve seen throughout history

Julie Whiteman, University of Birmingham

Photo of a black and white mural of Liam and Noel Gallagher of Oasis in Manchester
Increasing numbers of sexual offences on public transport recorded – but many experiences are still normalised and go unreported

Jennifer Grant, University of Portsmouth

Woman looking at smartphone on train
Violence against women isn’t the only national emergency – we must also tackle the misogyny that’s causing it

Lisa Sugiura, University of Portsmouth

Silhouettes of two men walking in a subway underground
Angela Rayner’s green suit: why is it so difficult for women in power to dress ‘correctly’?

Ashley Morgan, Cardiff Metropolitan University

Angela Rayner walking in a turquoise suit