Centre for British Politics, School of Law and Politics
MATT BEECH
Centre for British Politics, School of Law and Politics
University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK
01482 465724
Education
2004 PhD Politics, The Political Philosophy of New Labour, University of Southampton
2001 MSc Econ International Politics, University of Wales Aberystwyth
1999 BSc Econ (Hons) International Politics and International History (2:1),
University of Wales Aberystwyth
Awards
Jan-May 2017 Visiting Scholar, Institute for European Studies, UC Berkeley
Feb-March 2015 International Visiting Research Fellow, Flinders University
Sept 2002-Sept 2003 Thorneycroft Memorial Scholar, University of Southampton
Professional Qualifications
2010 Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, University of Hull
2010 Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Employment Record
Aug 2011 Senior Lecturer in Politics, School of Law and Politics, University of Hull
Oct 2006 - Aug 2011 Lecturer in Politics, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Hull
Oct 2005 - Oct 2006 Temporary Lecturer in British Politics, Department of Politics, University of York
April 2003 - July 2005 Part-Time Lecturer in British Politics, New College, University of Southampton
Sept 2003 - Sept 2005 Tutor in British Politics and Political Theory, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Southampton
Selected Publications
Books
M. Beech & S. Lee (eds.), The Conservative-Liberal Coalition: Examining the Cameron-Clegg Government, (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).
S. Lee & M. Beech (eds.), The Cameron-Clegg Government: Coalition Politics in an Age of Austerity (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011). 291 pages.
M. Beech & S. Lee (eds.), The Brown Government: A Policy Evaluation, (London: Routledge, 2010).
S. Lee & M. Beech (eds.), The Conservatives under David Cameron: Built to Last?, (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).
M. Beech & S. Lee (eds.), Ten Years of New Labour, (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008).
M. Beech & K. Hickson, Labour's Thinkers: The Intellectual Roots of Labour from Tawney to Gordon Brown, (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2007).
M. Beech, The Political Philosophy of New Labour, (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2006).
R. Plant, M. Beech & K. Hickson (eds.), The Struggle for Labour's Soul: Understanding Labour's Political Thought Since 1945, (London: Routledge, 2004).
Guest Edited Special Issues
M. Beech & S. Lee (eds.), ‘The Brown Government: A Policy Evaluation’, Policy Studies special issue, Vol. 30 (1), February 2009.
Journal Articles
B.M. Edwards & M. Beech, ‘Labour Parties, Ideas Transfer and Ideological Positioning: Australia and Britain Compared’, in Policy Studies, Vol. 37, (5), June 2016, 486-498.
M. Beech & R.M. Page, ‘‘Blue’ and ‘Purple’ Labour Challenges to the Welfare State: How Should ‘Statist’ Social Democrats Respond?’, in Social Policy and Society, Vol. 14, (3), July 2015, 341-356.
M. Beech & T. J. Oliver, ‘Humanitarian Intervention and Foreign Policy in the Conservative-led Coalition’, in Parliamentary Affairs, Vol. 67, (1), January 2014, 102-118.
M. Beech & K. Hickson, ‘Blue or Purple? Reflections on the Future of the Labour Party’, in Political Studies Review, Vol. 12, (1), January 2014, 75-87.
M. Beech, ‘A Social Democratic Narrative of British Democracy’, in Policy Studies, special issue ‘Narratives of British Democracy’, Volume 33, (2), April 2012, 133-144.
M. Beech, ‘State of the Discipline: British Politics in a Cold Climate’, British Politics, Volume 7, Number 1, April 2012, 4-16.
M. Beech, ‘British Conservatism and Foreign Policy: Traditions and Ideas Shaping Cameron’s Global View’, in British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Vol. 13, (3) August 2011, 348-363.
M. Beech, ‘Review Article: Change, Compromise and Coalition: British Politics in 2010’, in West European Politics, Vol. 33, (6), November 2010, 1378-1398.
M. Beech, ‘No New Vision: The Gradual Death of British Social Democracy?’, in The Political Quarterly, Vol. 80, (4), October-December 2009, 526-532.
M. Beech, ‘A Puzzle of Ideas and Policy: Gordon Brown as Prime Minister’, in Policy Studies, special issue ‘The Brown Government’, Vol. 30, (1), February 2009, 5-16.
Book Chapters
Forthcoming M. Beech, ‘Neo-liberalism, New Labour and the Welfare State’, in R. Backhouse, B. Bateman, T. Nishizawa and D. Plehwe (eds.) Liberalism and the Welfare State: Economists and Arguments for the Welfare State (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017)
Forthcoming R. Manwaring & M. Beech, ‘Back to the Wilderness: The Case of the British Labour Party’, in P. Webb and R. Manwaring (eds.) Why the Left Loses: Social Democracy in a State of Flux (Bristol: Policy Press, 2017)
M. Beech, ‘Internationalism’, in K. Hickson (ed.) Rebuilding Social Democracy: Core Principles for the Centre-Left (Bristol: Policy Press, 2016), 127-140.
M. Beech, ‘The Ideology of the Coalition: More Liberal than Conservative’, in M. Beech & S. Lee (eds.) The Conservative-Liberal Coalition: Examining the Cameron-Clegg Government (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), 1-15.
M. Beech, ‘The Coalition: A Transformative Government?’, in M. Beech & S. Lee (eds.) The Conservative-Liberal Coalition: Examining the Cameron-Clegg Government (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), 259-269.
M. Beech, ‘The British Welfare State and its Discontents’, in J. Hayward & J. Connelly (eds.) The Withering of the Welfare State: Regression (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), 86-100.
M. Beech, ‘The Left and Englishness’, in A. Aughey & C. Berberich (eds.), These Englands: Contemporary Conversations on National Identity (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2011), 137-154.
M. Beech, ‘A Tale of Two Liberalisms’, in S. Lee and M. Beech (eds.) The Cameron-Clegg Government: Coalition Politics in an Age of Austerity (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), 267-279.
M. Beech, ‘Cameron and Conservative Ideology’, in S. Lee and M. Beech (eds.) The Conservatives under David Cameron: Built to Last? (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), 18-30.
M. Beech, ‘New Labour and the Politics of Dominance’ in M. Beech and S. Lee (eds.) Ten Years of New Labour (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), 1-16.
M. Beech, ‘New Labour’, in R. Plant, M. Beech & K. Hickson (eds.) The Struggle for Labour's Soul: Understanding Labour's Political Thought Since 1945 (London: Routledge, 2004), 86-102.
Expert Submissions
M. Beech & P. Munce published submission of written evidence to the House of Lords Soft Power and the UK’s Influence Committee on 23rd September 2013.
M. Beech & J. Connelly published submission of written evidence to the Committee on Standards in Public Life document Review of Party Funding: Issues and Questions on 23rd November 2010. CSPL Report published as Political Party Finance: Ending the Big Donor Culture
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/228646/8208.pdf
Research Dissemination
Public Lectures
University of Adelaide, Department of Politics and International Studies (Australia), 6th March 2015, British Politics from New Labour to the Conservative-Liberal Coalition. Invited by Professor Clement Macintyre (University of Adelaide).
Flinders University, School of Social and Policy Studies (Australia), 5th March 2015, Is British Democracy Broken? Lessons for Australia. Invited by Dr Rob Manwaring (Flinders University).
International Conference Papers
M. Beech & K. Hickson, Interdisciplinary conference sponsored by CRECIB and organised by University Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3 (CREW- CREC EA 4399) and the University of Lorraine (IDEA and LOTERR) at Nancy, 4th-6th November 2017, ‘Revisiting the UK’s North-South Divide: The Changing Face of the North’, The Labour Party and the Future of the UK. Invited by Dr Jeremy Tranmer (University of Lorraine).
Hanns Seidel Stiftung, Kloster Banz, Bavaria (Germany), 17th September 2015, International Expert Conference on the UK General Election 2015, From Liberal Coalition to Conservative Majority Government: The Prime Ministership of David Cameron. Invited by Professor Manuela Glaab (Koblenz-Landau University).
University of Canberra (Australia), 26th February 2015, Australian Labor Party-British Labour Party Policy Transfer Workshop, The British Labour Party after New Labour: Ed Miliband, Austerity and the Climate of Ideas. Invited by Professor Mark Evans (University of Canberra) and Dr Rob Manwaring (Flinders University).
P. Munce & M. Beech, APSA Annual Conference, Washington DC (USA), 30th August 2014, Political Studies Association Panel, ‘Building Peace, Democracy and Respect for Rights – Domestic, Regional and International Perspectives’, The Place of Human Rights in Conservative Foreign Policy: Sceptics or Enthusiasts? Invited by Professor Jim McAuley (University of Huddersfield).
APSA British Politics Group Short Course, University of Chicago Business School (USA), 28th August 2013, ‘Fragmented Democracy’, A Thatcherite Inheritance? Foreign Policy Tension in the Coalition. Invited by Dr Janet Laible (Lehigh University).
APSA British Politics Group Short Course, University of Chicago Business School (USA), 28th August 2013, ‘Fragmented Democracy’, Towards a Tory Majority in 2015: Justifying the Economic Liberal Story. Invited by Dr Janet Laible (Lehigh University).
APSA Annual Conference, New Orleans (USA), 30th August 2012, British Politics Group panel, ‘British Labour Party Ideology, Strategy and Politics in Comparative Perspective’, Blue, Purple and Red: Examining Labour’s Ideological Conversation. Invited by Professor Terrence Casey (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology). Paper accepted but event cancelled due to Hurricane Isaac.
Flinders University, Adelaide, (Australia), 17th February 2012, two-day conference on ‘Is Social Democracy exhausted? Pathways, Reflections and Dilemmas’, Social Democracy Post-Crash: Searching for a Managed Welfare Capitalism in Britain. Invited by Dr Rob Manwaring (Flinders University).
APSA British Politics Group Short Course, George Washington University, Washington DC, (USA) 1st September 2010, ‘The UK and the USA in 2010: Transition and Transformation’, British Conservatism and Foreign Policy: Traditions and Ideas Shaping Cameron’s Global View. Invited by Dr Terrence Casey (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology).
Annual Meeting of the North East Conference on British Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, (USA) 21st-22nd October 2005, The Intellectual History of the Labour Party 1994-2004. Invited by Professor Peter Hansen (Worcester Polytechnic Institute).
International Research Seminars
M. Beech & K. Hickson, Sorbonne Nouvelle (France), 8th April 2016, research seminar, Power to the People or the Impotence of Opposition? The Labour Party under Mr Corbyn. Invited by Professor Emmanuelle Avril (Sorbonne Nouvelle).
Flinders University, (Australia), 25th February 2015, research seminar, The Ideology of the Coalition: More Liberal than Conservative. Invited by Dr Rob Manwaring (Flinders University).
University of Canberra, (Australia), 22nd February 2012, ANZSOG Institute for Governance research seminar, Ideology and Policy in the Conservative-Liberal Coalition. Invited by Professor Mark Evans (University of Canberra).
Hitotsubashi University, (Japan), 13th February 2012 Institute of Economic Research seminar, New Labour and Neo-Liberalism. Invited by Professor Tamotsu Nishizawa (Hitotsubashi University).
UK Conference Papers
M. Beech & K. Hickson, Centre for Research on the English-speaking World (CREW, Sorbonne Nouvelle) Conference, The Peoples’ History Museum, Manchester, 4th April 2016, , ‘Labour (Dis)united: Disputed Legitimacies within the British Labour Movement’, Jeremy Corbyn and the politics of dominance: how do the two projects compare?. Invited by Professor Emmanuelle Avril (Sorbonne Nouvelle).
P. Munce & M. Beech, Annual PSA Conference, The Midland Hotel, Manchester, 16th April 2014, Conservatives and Conservatism Specialist Group panel, ‘Constitutionalism, Rights and the Law in British Conservatism’, The Place of Human Rights in Conservative Foreign Policy: Sceptics of Enthusiasts? Invited by Dr Richard Hayton (University of Leeds).
University of Ulster, 18th October 2013, Joint Institute for Research in the Social Sciences (IRISS) University of Ulster, Centre for British Politics and PSA Conservatives and Conservatism Specialist Group Conference, ‘Conservatism and Unionism in the 21st Century’, The Coalition, Austerity and the Economic Liberal Story: Is the Union '...all in this together?’.
M. Beech & T.J. Oliver, Annual PSA Conference, City Hall, Cardiff, 27th March 2013, Conservatives and Conservatism Specialist Group panel, ‘Points of Departure: Exploring Tensions in the Conservative-led Coalition’, Liberal Interventionism and Foreign Policy in the Conservative-led Coalition. Invited by Dr Richard Hayton (University of Leeds).
University of Hull, 23rd June 2012, Joint Centre for British Politics and PSA Conservatives and Conservatism Specialist Group Conference, ‘The Conservatives in Coalition Government: Principles, Policy and Power’, A Liberal Conservative Worldview? Understanding the Cameron-Hague Perspective on Foreign Policy Intervention. Invited by Dr Peter Munce (University of Hull).
Joint BISA-ISA Annual Conference, Carlton Hotel, Edinburgh, 21st June 2012, Interpretivism in International Relations Working Group panel, ‘Interpretivism in International Relations: Themes and Issues’ Conservative Foreign Policy Traditions and Ideas: The Impact on Cameron’s Conservatives.
Invited by Dr Oliver Daddow (University of Leicester).
Annual PSA Conference, Europa Hotel, Belfast, 4thApril 2012, panel ‘New Labour and Neo-liberalism’, The Minority View: Neo-liberalism and Social Democracy in British Politics. Invited by Dr Matthew Francis (University of Nottingham).
Annual PSA Conference, Europa Hotel, Belfast, 4th April 2012, Conservatives and Conservatism Specialist Group panel, ‘Foreign Policy and Human Rights in Cameron’s Conservatives Party’, Liberal Interventionists or Liberal Conservatives? The Cameron-Hague Perspective on Foreign Policy Intervention. Invited by Dr Peter Munce (University of Hull).
University of Oxford, 15th June 2011, Centre for British Politics (University of Nottingham) and Centre for Political Ideologies (University of Oxford) Joint Conference, ‘A Permanent Revolution: Neo-liberalism and British Politics’, The Minority View: New Labour and Neo-Liberalism. Invited by Mr Matthew Francis (University of Nottingham).
London School of Economics, 25th March 2011, British Liberal Political Studies Group and Conservatives and Conservatism Specialist Group, ‘Joint Conference on the Coalition’, A Tale of Two Liberalisms: Ideas and Ideology in the Conservative–Liberal Coalition. Invited by Professor Russell Deacon (University of Wales, Institute Cardiff) and Professor Tim Bale (Sussex University).
Robinson College, University of Cambridge, 17th-19th December 2007, Annual BISA Conference, International Political Economy Group panel - ‘Public Purpose and the Good Society: The Political Economy of John Kenneth Galbraith’, Explaining the Intellectual Trajectory of J.K.Galbraith. Invited by Dr Simon Lee (University of Hull).
University of Leeds, 6th April 2005, Annual PSA Conference, Labour Movements Group panel, ‘Post-war Social Democratic Theorists’, David Owen – Social Democrat to Social Liberal: The Triumph of Markets and Liberty. Professor Mark Wickham-Jones (University of Bristol).
University of Lincoln, 7th April 2004, Annual PSA Conference, Labour Movements Group panel, ‘Labour’s Political Thought’, The Role of Liberty in Social Democratic Thought: Liberty, New Labour and MacCallum. Invited by Dr Eric Shaw (University of Stirling).
UK Research Seminars
University of Leeds, 27th November 2014, School of Politics and International Studies Research Seminar, The Ideology of the Coalition: Conservative in Name Only? Invited by Dr Tim Heppell (University of Leeds).
University of Leeds, 2nd November 2011, Centre for International Security & Centre for British Government Seminar, David Cameron’s Conservatives and Foreign Policy Intervention. Invited by Professor Jason Ralph (University of Leeds).
University of Ulster, 10th December 2009, Social and Policy Research Institute Research Seminar, The Ideas and Politics of David Cameron. Invited by Professor Arthur Aughey (University of Ulster).
University of York, 20th May 2009, Department of Politics Roundtable Seminar, The Conservatives under David Cameron. Invited Professor Mark Evans (University of York).
University of Plymouth, 18th May 2005, Department of History Seminar, Gordon Brown’s Conception of Equality. Invited by Professor Kevin Jefferys (University of Plymouth).
University of Bristol, 9th February 2005, MA Seminar, Evan Durbin – Labour’s Lost Prophet. Invited by Dr Mark Wickham-Jones (University of Bristol).
University of Swansea, 24th November 2004, Department of History Seminar, Patriotism and Socialism – The Thought of Evan Durbin. Invited by Professor Noel Thompson (University of Swansea).
Roundtable & Panel Contributions
House of Commons, 14th September 2016, Rebuilding Social Democracy: Core Principle for the Centre Left book launch, panel speaker. Invited by Dr Kevin Hickson (University of Liverpool).
University of Leeds, 22nd October 2014, PSA Labour Movements Group Conference: The Blair Supremacy, panel discussant. Invited by Professor John Kelly (Birkbeck, University of London).
APSA British Politics Group Short Course, Marriott Wardman-Park, Washington DC, 27th August 2014, panel on Foreign and Defence Policy discussant. Programme Chairs myself and Dr Peter Munce (University of Hull).
House of Lords seminar on the Democratic Political Activity (Funding and Expenditure) Bill on 16th May 2013. Invited by Lord Tyler.
University of Liverpool, 8th March 2013, Labour and the Future of the Welfare State: A Discussion, panel discussant. Invited by Dr Kevin Hickson (University of Liverpool).
University of Notre Dame London and Palgrave Macmillan, 22nd April 2010, Election Countdown 2010, panel discussant. Invited by Mr Dan Porter (Palgrave Macmillan).
PSA 60th Anniversary Conference, The George Hotel, Edinburgh, 31st March 2010, PSA Conservatives and Conservatism Specialist Group Roundtable, Writing the Tory Story, panel discussant. Invited by Dr Tim Bale (Sussex University).
University of Bristol, 16th December 2009, PSA Labour Movements Group Conference, Labour and Europe, panel discussant. Invited by Professor Mark Wickham-Jones (University of Bristol).
University of Manchester, 8th April 2009, APSA British Politics Group Roundtable on New Labour, panel discussant. PSA Annual Conference. Invited by Dr Terrence Casey (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, USA).
Institute for Contemporary British History workshop, Nuffield College, University of Oxford, 17th December 2002, participant on 1974-1979 Labour Government. Invited by Dr. Anthony Seldon (Brighton College) and Dr. Kevin Hickson (University of Liverpool).
Funding
External Funding
2010-2017 Public Policy Consultancy for York Associates: Norwegian MPs, Journalists and Trade Union Officials.
Feb-March 2015 International Visiting Research Fellowship, School of Social and Policy Studies, Flinders University, (Australia).
2005 British Academy Overseas Conference Grant.
2005-2006 Commissioned to work on the Politics Online Learning and Citizenship Skills (POLIS) project part of a HEFCE funded project ‘Teaching Citizenship in Higher Education’ led by Professor Graham Smith, University of Southampton.
Internal Funding
Nov 2016 Noel O’Sullivan Fund.
2011-2014 University of Hull match-funding for Dr Peter Munce’s Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at the Centre for British Politics.
Media Work
Press
Interviews with USA Today, Financial Times, Bloomberg News, Daily Express, Hull Daily Mail, Les Echos (France), Le Figaro (France), L’ Echo (Belgium), Netherlands Press Association, Semana (Columbia), I Jornal (Portugal), Pravda (Slovakia) and Politikya (Poland).
Television
Over 50 TV and radio interviews with BBC Parliament, BBC Radio 4, Radio France International, CNBC Asia, BBC Look North, ITV Calendar, BBC Humberside, Talk Media News (USA), LBC Radio, Radio Adelaide (Australia), Viking FM and CalTV.
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Matt Beech CV