About the Study of Parliament Group

On this page: Introduction Membership The Executive Committee History

Introduction

The Group, which was founded in 1964, studies Parliaments and Parliamentary Assemblies and publishes its findings in books, articles, its own series of papers, and in evidence to select committees. Some of this work is undertaken in small study groups. In addition, the Group holds occasional meetings at Westminster and elsewhere with visiting speakers and invited guests. The Group is Registered Charity No. 251208.

The formal statement of what the Group is to do is as follows:

To best advance and further public education in the art or science of government through Parliament (including the working of Parliament and Parliamentary institutions) or other branches of political science;
To best advance and further the study of and research into methods of government through Parliament (including the working of Parliament and Parliamentary institutions) or other branches of political science, in and for the benefit of the community as a whole, and to publish the results of such study and research;
to best advance public education in forms of parliamentary government and representative assemblies (whether or not such forms shall be actual or theoretical).

Membership

Membership falls into four categories:

past and present staff (including graduates holding post-doctoral research positions) of universities and other academic or research institutions;
postgraduate research students currently registered at a university within the United Kingdom;
past and present officials of two Houses of Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, the Northern Ireland Assembly, Tynwald, the Oireachtas and the Channel Islands parliaments; and
other persons having a serious and proven interest in the objects of the Group, not being members of any of the above legislatures when first elected to membership.

Candidates' details are circulated to existing Group members for their views by email (usually in batches, roughly once a month), and then the Executive Committee considers the applications (again, usually by email rather than waiting for a meeting). Initial inquiries, preferably accompanied by details of work done in the areas of the Group's interests (see above) should be addressed to:

categories i, ii and iv: Dr Louise Thompson (louise.thompson-4manchester.ac.uk)
category iii: Dr Michael Everett (everettmrparliament.uk).

We have an application form here.

The current annual subscription is £25 (apart from category ii, where it is £10): this will be asked for if and when the application has been successful.

Some of our academic members have given details of their interests here.

The Executive Committee

President: Professor Lord Norton of Louth, Professor of Government and Director of the Centre for Legislative Studies, University of Hull
Chair: Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira, Professor of Politics, University of Leeds
Deputy Chair: Colin Lee, Chamber and Committees team, House of Commons
Secretaries: (official) Dr Michael Everett, House of Commons
(academic) Dr Louise Thompson, Senior Lecture in Politics, University of Manchester
Newsletter editor: Henry Midgley, National Audit Office
Treasurer: Dr Phil Larkin Lecturer in Public Policy, University of Canberra
Other members:
Emily Baldock, Parliament Office, House of Lords
Clare Cowan, Bank of England
Brigid Fowler, Senior Researcher, Hansard Society
Professor Graham Gee, Professor of Public Law, University of Sheffield
James Johnston, Scottish Parliament
Angela Kelly, Northern Ireland Assembly
Lucinda Maer, Head of the Parliament and Constitution Centre, House of Commons Library
Simon Patrick OBE (webmaster), Chamber and Committees team, House of Commons (retired)
Richard Reid, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University
Christine Salmon Percival, Parliament Office, House of Lords
Jack Simson Caird, Senior Research Fellow, Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law
Aileen Walker OBE, HC Library (retired)
Ayeesha Waller, Parliament Office, House of Lords
Hannah White, Institute for Government
Gareth Williams, National Assembly for Wales
Huw Yardley, Chamber and Committees team, House of Commons

History

In 1985 the Group published a short History entitled The Study of Parliament Group: The First Twenty-one Years, by Dermot Englefield. You can read it here (except for the Appendices).

Preface and Foreword
Chapter 1: Beginnings
Chapter 2: Early years
Chapter 3: The second decade
Chapter 4: Conclusion

Last updated: 8 October 2019