The University of Liverpool, in collaboration with Liverpool John Moores University, has hosted the 73rd Annual Political Studies Association Conference for the first time.
The prestigious three-day Political Futures Conference welcomed more than 800 delegates to Liverpool, both in-person and virtually, across both universities and the Metropolitan Cathedral.
Between 3-5 April, delegates had more than 150 different panels to choose from on a diverse range of topics such as artificial intelligence, social media, political theory and populism.
Researchers from across the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Liverpool, including the Department of Politics, Department of Communication and Media and the Heseltine Institute delivered a wide variety of papers. Senior Lecturer in Politics, Dr David Jeffery also launched his new book 'Whatever Happened to Tory Liverpool?'
On Monday 3 April Professor Rachel Gibson from the University of Manchester delivered a fascinating keynote on her work studying data driven campaigns across the UK, US, France, Germany and Poland, which provoked a thoughtful discussion on the future of political campaigning.
On Tuesday 4 April BBC Radio Merseyside's Political Reporter Claire Hamilton hosted a roundtable on Policy Futures. Claire was joined by Sam Sharps from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, Matthew Lesh from the Institute of Economic Affairs, Catherine Haddon from the Institute for Government and Rachel Statham from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) for a varied discussion on issues from the future of work to House of Lords Reform.
Executive Pro-Vice Chancellor, Professor Fiona Beveridge also welcomed delegates to the Annual Conference Dinner.
Professor Stuart Wilks-Heeg from the Department of Politics, part of the University of Liverpool team who organised the conference said: "It was absolutely fantastic to co-host so many researchers in Liverpool for the Political Studies Association Conference this week. It's a key event in the political studies calendar so it was a real privilege to host."
Simon Gibbons-Patourel, from the School of Histories, Languages and Cultures Marketing, Recruitment and Events Team said: "The conference coincided with glorious weather, with the blue skies and sunshine showing the campus and the city at its very best. There were brilliant discussions and it was excellent to have researchers, some local and some from around the world, come together here in Liverpool.
"I'd like to thank everyone who worked so hard to make the conference a success, including the HLC Marketing, Recruitment and Events Team, the HLC Technical Support Team, Professor Stuart Wilks-Heeg, our academic colleagues here and at John Moores, and all of our excellent student ambassadors."
Lead image features Professor Rachel Gibson taken by Dr Liam McLoughlin.
