Centre for Britain and Europe blog

All the latest British and European politics news.

By-elections Part 2: Confirming what we think we know: Hartlepool – 6th May, Conservative gain, share of the vote: 51.9%

In the UK governments typically lose by-elections, or at best they hold on to the seat. It is exceptional for a government to actually gain a seat. In 1982, the then Conservative government gained Mitcham and Morden as the Falklands War[1]reached its climax[2]. Since then, Hartlepool is only the second time a government has gained […]


The Parliamentary By-elections Spring-Summer 2021: what do they tell us about British politics today?

Over the ten weeks between May 6th and July 1st four Westminster Parliamentary by-elections[1] were held in the UK. These were for the constituencies of: Hartlepool in the North-East of England (Conservative gain from Labour) Airdrie and Shotts in the Scottish Central Belt region, between Glasgow and Edinburgh (SNP hold) Chesham and Amersham in the Buckinghamshire […]


Why be such a pain?

Something’s bothering me about Brexit. The main thrust of Johnson’s time in Number 10 has been ‘getting Brexit done’, which I have always taken to mean ‘getting Brexit off the front pages so we can get back to some more interesting/important thing’. This has manifested itself in Johnson’s lack of engagement with the detail (or […]


COMMENTARY: Centre for Britain and Europe: Open Doors and Building Bridges.

In August 2020, the Centre for Britain and Europe (CBE), based at the University of Surrey’s Department of Politics was awarded the prestigious Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence by the European Union, for 2020-2023. This is a great acknowledgment of the high-quality of research which has been carried out, as well as an acknowledgment of […]


Another day, another deadline

Today’s a special day, for several reasons. Most importantly, it’s the launch of our new Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in the Centre for Britain and Europe, with many excellent speakers (and me). You can follow the discussion on Twitter on #SurreyBritainEurope and by following our account. But it’s also important as the deadline for talks on the Future Relationship. Except […]


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