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Careers Conference 2019

Our Careers Conference, held jointly with the sociology programme, on 4 December had extremely positive feedback from students once again.

Using a ‘speed dating’ format, students moved between tables hosted by employers from a wide variety of NGOs and public sector organisations. Many said they were surprised and impressed to realise that there was such a variety of opportunities out there for graduates with their skills and knowledge.

It was also lovely to have three politics graduates in attendance. We are always thankful to our graduate community for their willingness to give up their time and be such positive role models to current students.

  • Jack Bidewell graduated 2019
  • Oscar Lester -graduated 2015

Professor Sir John Curtice visits Parliamentary Studies class

One of the highlights of semester one was the visit of Professor Sir John Curtice to our Level 6 Parliamentary Studies module. As Professor of Politics at the University of Strathclyde and Senior Research Fellow at the National Centre for Social Research, he is widely regarded as the country’s best known polling expert.

Ahead of a public lecture as part of the Vice Chancellor Series, Professor Curtice took part in a Q and A session with our politics staff and Parliamentary Studies students. He covered a wide range of topics including the 2019 general election, Brexit, Scottish independence and the reliability of polls. On the day (12 November 2019), Professor Curtice declared the election too close to call. Nevertheless, his predictions that the Conservatives would win, Corbyn would go, the Brexit Party would fail to gain a seat and the SNP would secure a large number of seats in Scotland, all proved correct despite the volatile voting patterns of the British public.

Students relished the opportunity to engage with Professor Curtice, and we’d like to thank him once again for his generosity with his time and expertise.

Brussels Trip December 2019

On the 9th and 10th of December 2019, 35 students from our 2nd and 3rd year, together with our MSc students, went to Brussels to speak to representatives from the UK Representation in Brussels, EU institutions and to see how the EU works in practice.

On the first day we visited the Welsh Office in Brussels, where representatives from the UK Representation welcomed us. We had further speakers from the European Commission, including DG Grow and DG Near dealing with EU space policy and the EU’s enlargement and neighbourhood policy. Each speaker presented the area they work in briefly, and what the EU is doing in terms of policies and activities.

The day concluded with a city tour, starting at the Grand Place in the centre of Brussels, where we learnt more about the history of Brussels and how it has changed over time, not least as a result of being the capital of the European Union.

On the second day we welcomed Dr Tarik Meziani from the Council of the EU’s Integrated Political Crisis Response team. He briefed the students on how the EU’s crisis response works and what lessons have been learnt in recent years. After his talk, we went to the European Parliament, where we visited the Parliamentarium, which is the documentation centre of the EP. We saw the original copy of the Schuman Declaration as well as other key documents of the EU.   

The trip was funded by our Jean Monnet Chair in European Foreign Policy, which is part of the Erasmus+ funding we have been awarded for 2017-2020.

We would like to thank the UK Representation to the EU, the Wales Office in Brussels, all of our speakers, and particularly John Maas for their contribution to the success of this study trip.

    Making Politics Matter Public Lectures – A Review of Semester 1

    To say that this has been a busy year with regards to public events and extra-curricular activities would be an understatement. Over the last semester, Politics and International Relations in collaboration with students have successfully organised several public lectures, featuring high-profile political practitioners, activists, journalists and political analysts on a range of pressing contemporary social and political problems. Some of the events were the following:

    1. ‘Brexit Roundtable’, with Dr Sarah Lieberman (Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Canterbury Christ Church University) and Professor John Macgregor (former British diplomat; visiting Professor at Canterbury Christ Church University). The event was chaired by Stephen Fidler (Brexit editor of Wall Street Journal; visiting Professor at Canterbury Christ Church University).
    2. ‘The Privatization of Warfare’, with Nicolai Due-Gundersen (political commentator, analyst and former adviser to the Arab Institute for Security Studies)
    3. ‘Socialism: A world of common ownership and free access’ with members of the Socialist Party of Great Britain.
    4. ‘Meet the Candidates: 2019 Parliamentary Hustings for the Canterbury Constituency’. The event, which was held in collaboration with the Centre for European Studies (CEFEUS) at CCCU, the Canterbury and District Inter-Faith Action (CANDIFA), the Ethnic Minority and Independent Council, and Canterbury Society, featured candidates from the Conservative Party, the Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, and independent candidates, who made their case to the audience as to why they should be elected to represent Canterbury as Member of Parliament. The event was attended by more than 470 University students, members of staff and the public, as well as students from Canterbury Academy and St Anselm’s, and was covered by Reuters, BBC Kent, and Kent Online.  

    These events, which serve as an important networking opportunity for students, embody and reflect the ethos of our Programme – our conviction that effective teaching and learning should also occur beyond the rather narrow confines of the classroom, and our endeavour to engage students and members of the general public in thought-provoking, and current political issues and problems on the one hand, and to deliberate on these issues and problems together, on the other.

    All I want for Christmas….is a snap general election!

    The gauntlet is down. The House of Commons has (finally!) agreed to Boris Johnson’s push for an early general election, backed by most of the other parties in Parliament. On 12 December 2019 – the first winter general election since 1923, – voters will go to the polls in the second snap general election in just over two years.

    For the two big parties, this will undoubtedly be a difficult election. Notwithstanding the rhetoric welcoming an opportunity to go to the polls, both Labour and the Conservatives are in for a tough electoral ride. As voting intentions currently stand, the Conservatives remain substantially ahead of Labour, but as became evident during Theresa May’s ill-fated 2017 election, the impact of campaigning goes a long way.

    What does seem certain, however, is that the 2019 election will deliver a significant number of non-Labour and Conservative parliamentarians. Given the position of the Liberal Democrats in the polls, there is an expectation that they will do well, while in Scotland the SNP looks set to win the lion’s share of seats, hoping to repeat the record-breaking victory it secured in 2015 (winning 56/59 seats). In the event of a hung parliament, these smaller parties will play a leading role. It really is all to play for!

    Brexit will no doubt dominate the campaign in the run up to the election. The parties, of course, will put forward other proposals in their manifestoes, but the Brexit dispute is far from over. With the Conservatives’ proposition of ‘getting Brexit done’, the Lib Dems support for revoking Article 50, and Labour’s plan for renegotiation and then referendum, there will be no let-up in the Brexit debate.

    Will Johnson win a majority? Will Labour blaze ahead in the polls? What will the result mean for Brexit? Will the ‘stop Brexit’ message of the Lib Dems pay dividends for the party? Over the next few weeks we’ll publish a series of posts tackling these big questions. Watch this space!

    Dr Paul Anderson is a Lecturer in Politics and International Relations

    CCCU Faculty PhD Scholarships

    We welcome applicants for full-time PhD scholarships (a stipend of £13,000 p.a., tuition fee waiver for three years and an expense allowance of £500 p. a.). In some subject areas part-time PhD scholarships will also be available (tuition fee waiver for five years and an expense allowance of £300 p.a.)