I am a historian of nineteenth-century Britain and am especially interested in political culture in the age of ‘mass’ democracy. My research focuses on popular and electoral politics, political language, and organisational politics. I am currently writing a book on Scottish nationalism and the campaign for Home Rule in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I am looking at the relationship of demands for self-government to Scottish nationality and identity and at the changing shape of Scottish and British politics. My research also explores the impact of Irish Home Rule on contests over political participation and ‘popular opinion’ in Britain. Longer term, my research will investigate the history of Liberal organisation in Britain during a period of fluctuating fortunes for the party. More broadly, I am interested in ‘four nations’ history and I use quantitative and geospatial techniques in my work.
I am a College Lecturer in History at Hertford College, where I teach undergraduate papers in modern British history, European history and historical methods. I came to Hertford from King’s College London, where I completed my PhD and taught on modern British and Irish history. In January 2020, I was the recipient of an Outstanding Doctoral Thesis prize from King’s. In 2020-21, I am also teaching at Exeter College.
Research Interests
The relationship between popular politics, political language, and organisational politics
The history of nationalisms and national identity in the British Isles
The history and politics of the Liberal party
Thinking about the history of Britain and Ireland pluralistically
