Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics, Kingston University
Dr Robin Pettitt is Senior Lecturer at Kingston University - London. He specialises in the internal life of political parties and is currently investigating how parties recruit and retain their activists.
Dr Pettitt's main area of expertise is political parties, especially membership influence on policy making. A particular area of interest has been left wing parties with a formal commitment to intra-party democracy and how this has worked out in practice.
His research focuses on political organisations that serve as conduits between civil society and the state, particularly political parties. His interests have been largely based on national politics, but he is moving into the politics of representation at the EU level. Dr Pettitt also has an interest in the uses and abuses of marketing techniques in politics and in research methodology.
Previous research has focused on the obstacles to membership influence on party policy and how these can be overcome. One main area of attention has been the role of the party conference as a platform for membership dissent. In this context he has carried out extensive work on the Labour Party conference and how it has been managed by the party leadership so as to present a united front to the media and thereby the wider electorate. He has investigated the way in which the agenda is controlled, speakers groomed and how both individuals and other groups within the party membership have tried to break leadership control of the conference. He also has an interest in how the Labour Party conference has changed its nature during the party's history.
Five reasons to vote in this election
Nov 27, 2019 12:40 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics
If you live in a safe seat, dont feel inspired by the choices on offer, and/or would rather spend December 12 doing your Christmas shopping, you might be considering not voting in the 2019 general election then here are...
Why Brexit might be as big a problem for Jeremy Corbyn as it is for Theresa May
Oct 28, 2018 12:03 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Its clear that the Conservative Party leadership, like the wider party, is profoundly split on what its Brexit policy ought to be. When Number 10 is willing to admit that a Cabinet meeting was impassioned the chances are...
Theresa May lives to fight another day – but this conference speech may well be her last
Oct 04, 2018 14:29 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Last years car crash was always going to set the bar for Theresa Mays 2018 speech to the Conservative Party conference very low. It was, however, a bar May cleared with ease in her 2018 address. The terrible dancing and...
Meet Theresa May's Conservatives – they're not the nasty party, honest
May 21, 2017 13:36 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Theresa Mays (not the Conservative Partys more on that later) 2017 general election manifesto is based on dealing with Five Great Challenges. The plan is to ensure a strong economy, manage Brexit, tackle enduring social...
Heathrow, Brexit and a pointless political suicide – that Richmond by-election in full
Dec 04, 2016 06:00 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
The 2016 Richmond Park by-election must surely be one of the most frivolous and pointless instances of political suicide in recent British political history. Conservative incumbent Zac Goldsmith should perhaps be...
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