Nick Anstead
@nickanstead.bsky.social
Associate Professor at LSE, researching political communications and the role of ideas in politics. More on me and my research: https://linktr.ee/NickAnstead
Pinned
Nick Anstead
@nickanstead.bsky.social
· Apr 24
🚨New article alert! 🚨
"Facebook election advertising: dangerous for democracy or politics as usual? The case of the 2017 UK general election" in the Journal of Information Technology & Politics.
Available open access: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
"Facebook election advertising: dangerous for democracy or politics as usual? The case of the 2017 UK general election" in the Journal of Information Technology & Politics.
Available open access: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The IOC really doesn't help itself, does it?
The IOC: We must absolutely keep politics out of sport.
Also the IOC: We sell Nazi t-shirts!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The IOC: We must absolutely keep politics out of sport.
Also the IOC: We sell Nazi t-shirts!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Olympic body criticised for selling Nazi-era Games T-shirt
The International Olympic Committee defends the T-shirt as being part of its Heritage Collection, celebrating styles from all editions of the Games.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 13, 2026 at 12:25 PM
The IOC really doesn't help itself, does it?
The IOC: We must absolutely keep politics out of sport.
Also the IOC: We sell Nazi t-shirts!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The IOC: We must absolutely keep politics out of sport.
Also the IOC: We sell Nazi t-shirts!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Nick Anstead
✨ Save the date! Registration is now open for @banaji.bsky.social's Inaugural Lecture "Infinite #Justice".
Prof Banaji will explore how #media, education & #tech shape our ideas of love and dignity.
📅 Mon 16 March 6.30pm
📍 #LSE & Online
🎟️ Register: lse.ac.uk/events/infinite-justice
#LSEEvents
Prof Banaji will explore how #media, education & #tech shape our ideas of love and dignity.
📅 Mon 16 March 6.30pm
📍 #LSE & Online
🎟️ Register: lse.ac.uk/events/infinite-justice
#LSEEvents
Infinite justice | Shakuntala Banaji
6:30pm Mon 16 Mar | Shakuntala Banaji | Ticket Required | Free public event at LSE
lse.ac.uk
February 12, 2026 at 3:40 PM
✨ Save the date! Registration is now open for @banaji.bsky.social's Inaugural Lecture "Infinite #Justice".
Prof Banaji will explore how #media, education & #tech shape our ideas of love and dignity.
📅 Mon 16 March 6.30pm
📍 #LSE & Online
🎟️ Register: lse.ac.uk/events/infinite-justice
#LSEEvents
Prof Banaji will explore how #media, education & #tech shape our ideas of love and dignity.
📅 Mon 16 March 6.30pm
📍 #LSE & Online
🎟️ Register: lse.ac.uk/events/infinite-justice
#LSEEvents
We should avoid reading too much into a relatively minor story in a single news cycle. But notable how parties have lined up on Radcliffegate: strong attack on JR from Lab, LDs, Greens (also Starmer led this - almost unheard of). Reform basically defends JR, Tories shift around uncomfortably.
This seems a major potential flaw the “2-bloc” analysis that has become so trendy recently: voters have to actually believe they are in those blocs so they can vote efficiently under FPTP. But if, for example, Green voters simply don’t see Lab as part of their tribe, you move from a bloc to a split.
February 12, 2026 at 3:16 PM
We should avoid reading too much into a relatively minor story in a single news cycle. But notable how parties have lined up on Radcliffegate: strong attack on JR from Lab, LDs, Greens (also Starmer led this - almost unheard of). Reform basically defends JR, Tories shift around uncomfortably.
Reposted by Nick Anstead
There is a lot to be said for this letter in today's Times
February 11, 2026 at 11:21 AM
There is a lot to be said for this letter in today's Times
My outside bet has always been that REF 2029 never happens. At a time of massive financial instability (including redundancies) around HE it simply seems like an obscene waste of money.
Scrapping REF should be “serious’ option”, says Manchester VC.
Duncan Ivison questions “usefulness” of “massive, bureaucratic” research assessment exercise.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Duncan Ivison questions “usefulness” of “massive, bureaucratic” research assessment exercise.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Scrapping REF should be ‘serious’ option, says Manchester VC - Research Professional News
Duncan Ivison questions “usefulness” of “massive, bureaucratic” research assessment exercise
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
February 10, 2026 at 10:36 AM
My outside bet has always been that REF 2029 never happens. At a time of massive financial instability (including redundancies) around HE it simply seems like an obscene waste of money.
Reposted by Nick Anstead
It's hard to pick the one maddest element of British politics, but the tradition of committee room table-banging noise assessment before a leader is destroyed surely has to be in the running.
February 9, 2026 at 6:09 PM
It's hard to pick the one maddest element of British politics, but the tradition of committee room table-banging noise assessment before a leader is destroyed surely has to be in the running.
Interesting… Streeting obviously trying to get ahead of this but also has the side effect of publishing some of his private thinking on the government eg. No growth strategy; no clear answer to why Labour.
Only downside for him seems to be reminding everyone how marginal his seat is.
Only downside for him seems to be reminding everyone how marginal his seat is.
BREAKING: Wes Streeting publishes his private WhatsApp messages with Peter Mandelson in apparent attempt to draw a line under their friendship. They reveal:
:: He feared being “toast at the next election” in his Ilford North seat, adding: “There isn’t a clear answer to the question: why Labour?”.
:: He feared being “toast at the next election” in his Ilford North seat, adding: “There isn’t a clear answer to the question: why Labour?”.
February 9, 2026 at 6:31 PM
Interesting… Streeting obviously trying to get ahead of this but also has the side effect of publishing some of his private thinking on the government eg. No growth strategy; no clear answer to why Labour.
Only downside for him seems to be reminding everyone how marginal his seat is.
Only downside for him seems to be reminding everyone how marginal his seat is.
I'm not sure the reign of Henry VI would be the historical analogy I'd reach for.
February 9, 2026 at 6:02 PM
I'm not sure the reign of Henry VI would be the historical analogy I'd reach for.
One of the small subplots in British politics in recent decades has been power wielded by devolved politicians over party affairs, either here by voicing opinions on leadership or being Kings / Queens over the water.
February 9, 2026 at 1:40 PM
One of the small subplots in British politics in recent decades has been power wielded by devolved politicians over party affairs, either here by voicing opinions on leadership or being Kings / Queens over the water.
The iron law of political scandal: they are particularly devastating when they undermine how politicians seek to present themselves but also confirm all the suspicions the public hold about those politicians (see also: partygate).
The Mandelson saga is doubly bad for Starmer & co. First because it goes against their supposed brand of probity. Second because it fits their actual brand of not listening to concerns from their colleagues and majoring on ideas that only make sense in transactional terms or getting through the week
What is the point of Keir Starmer staying as prime minister?
February 5, 2026 at 10:13 AM
The iron law of political scandal: they are particularly devastating when they undermine how politicians seek to present themselves but also confirm all the suspicions the public hold about those politicians (see also: partygate).
This is the paradox of a more restrictive student visa model: the universities / campuses which go to the wall will be the ones that draw students disproportionately from the local community (so at Essex / Southend, 50% from the city itself).
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘If I think about what this means, I want to cry’: what happens when a city loses its university?
When Essex University’s Southend campus opened, it was a message of hope for a ‘left behind’ UK seaside town. Its closure will be felt far beyond its 800 students, some of whom will not get their degr...
www.theguardian.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:48 AM
This is the paradox of a more restrictive student visa model: the universities / campuses which go to the wall will be the ones that draw students disproportionately from the local community (so at Essex / Southend, 50% from the city itself).
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
I think this is such an important point. Tactical voting only works in an environment where voters have good info.
The paradox of a poor information + anti-Reform tactical voting might be worse relations between parties on the left, as they fight like rats in a sack for status of main challenger.
The paradox of a poor information + anti-Reform tactical voting might be worse relations between parties on the left, as they fight like rats in a sack for status of main challenger.
Looking at the Gorton and Denton contest is like a foretaste of a GE where voters are given multiple messages, ‘only X party can win here’ based on - often - relatively poor data and bewildering changes in the national picture 🤯. I’m concerned about how we could provide decent information.
February 3, 2026 at 11:42 AM
I think this is such an important point. Tactical voting only works in an environment where voters have good info.
The paradox of a poor information + anti-Reform tactical voting might be worse relations between parties on the left, as they fight like rats in a sack for status of main challenger.
The paradox of a poor information + anti-Reform tactical voting might be worse relations between parties on the left, as they fight like rats in a sack for status of main challenger.
Realisation of middle age...
Browsing Netflix with our 6-year-old, who requests to watch Scooby Doo. Searching, a few things pop up, including what I absent mindedly referred to as "The New Scooby Doo" film...
...before realising IT IS A QUARTER OF A CENTURY OLD.
Browsing Netflix with our 6-year-old, who requests to watch Scooby Doo. Searching, a few things pop up, including what I absent mindedly referred to as "The New Scooby Doo" film...
...before realising IT IS A QUARTER OF A CENTURY OLD.
scooby doo from the scooby doo cartoon is making a funny face
ALT: scooby doo from the scooby doo cartoon is making a funny face
media.tenor.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:32 PM
Realisation of middle age...
Browsing Netflix with our 6-year-old, who requests to watch Scooby Doo. Searching, a few things pop up, including what I absent mindedly referred to as "The New Scooby Doo" film...
...before realising IT IS A QUARTER OF A CENTURY OLD.
Browsing Netflix with our 6-year-old, who requests to watch Scooby Doo. Searching, a few things pop up, including what I absent mindedly referred to as "The New Scooby Doo" film...
...before realising IT IS A QUARTER OF A CENTURY OLD.
Absolutely worth your time from @robertsaunders.bsky.social.
It is an indictment of the 🇬🇧 political class that we are no further with these questions than in 2020 (although I fear the problem is there is only one real answer, and it is the one rejected in 2016).
It is an indictment of the 🇬🇧 political class that we are no further with these questions than in 2020 (although I fear the problem is there is only one real answer, and it is the one rejected in 2016).
It's six years today since Britain left the EU.
I wrote this on Brexit day in 2020, about the strategic dilemmas to which European membership had once been the answer and that would now reopen once Britain left.
I'd stand by most of it today.
gladstonediaries.blogspot.com/2020/01/brex...
I wrote this on Brexit day in 2020, about the strategic dilemmas to which European membership had once been the answer and that would now reopen once Britain left.
I'd stand by most of it today.
gladstonediaries.blogspot.com/2020/01/brex...
Brexit in Historical Perspective: The Age of Britain in Europe
When the bell tolls at eleven o’clock tonight, ringing out Britain’s membership of the EU, an entire phase of British history will ...
gladstonediaries.blogspot.com
January 30, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Absolutely worth your time from @robertsaunders.bsky.social.
It is an indictment of the 🇬🇧 political class that we are no further with these questions than in 2020 (although I fear the problem is there is only one real answer, and it is the one rejected in 2016).
It is an indictment of the 🇬🇧 political class that we are no further with these questions than in 2020 (although I fear the problem is there is only one real answer, and it is the one rejected in 2016).
One of my favourite media experiences as an academic was being interviewed by Pat Kenny a couple of times in the run-up to the 2015 UK election. He was a great interviewer and incredibly knowledgeable on British politics.
‘To be honest I’m a bit overwhelmed’: Pat Kenny signs off after more than four decades of daily radio
‘To be honest I’m a bit overwhelmed’: Pat Kenny signs off after more than four decades of daily radio
Radio: Vetaran broadcaster is flooded with messages from wellwishers as he leaves his weekday slot on Newstalk
www.irishtimes.com
January 30, 2026 at 1:36 PM
One of my favourite media experiences as an academic was being interviewed by Pat Kenny a couple of times in the run-up to the 2015 UK election. He was a great interviewer and incredibly knowledgeable on British politics.
The high-risk scenario here for Starmer/Lab is that the Greens are able to cast themselves as venue for anti-Reform vote, & it becomes a 2-horse race with Labour excluded. This really hurts Labour's best overall pitch of "vote for us or get Reform"
[1/2]
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
[1/2]
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Greens select former mayoral candidate to run in Gorton and Denton byelection
Hannah Spencer, a Trafford councillor and a plumber, ran as the party’s candidate for mayor of Manchester in 2024
www.theguardian.com
January 30, 2026 at 11:36 AM
The high-risk scenario here for Starmer/Lab is that the Greens are able to cast themselves as venue for anti-Reform vote, & it becomes a 2-horse race with Labour excluded. This really hurts Labour's best overall pitch of "vote for us or get Reform"
[1/2]
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
[1/2]
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
In a period of debased political discourse, one of the best defences of the BBC would be to consciously provide a space for elevated political discussion. By pandering to the economics of the social media click grift, BBC Question Time is really failing in responding to that challenge.
I'm late to this but what on earth were Question Time doing putting Konstantin Kisin on the show? These are not serious people. They're controversialists-for-cash. The whole business model is to say increasingly outrageous things for the coverage and clicks. Next week: Lucy White.
January 30, 2026 at 10:49 AM
In a period of debased political discourse, one of the best defences of the BBC would be to consciously provide a space for elevated political discussion. By pandering to the economics of the social media click grift, BBC Question Time is really failing in responding to that challenge.
These numbers are genuinely appalling considering what is happening in the US… the UK should be a relatively *more attractive* destination in the global education marketing place for people wanting an English-language Masters degree.
Int'l student numbers at UK universities down 6% last year - master's numbers down 10%. Some massive drops in overseas headcount, eg, Beds (-51%), Swansea, Northampton (-44%). Also Sheffield (-26%), Cardiff, Leeds (-22%) www.timeshighereducation.com/news/masters... via @patrickjack.bsky.social
Master’s plunge 10 per cent amid record fall in overseas students
UK universities’ recruitment from India, China and Nigeria falls after policy changes, with student numbers now well below peak of a few years ago
www.timeshighereducation.com
January 27, 2026 at 4:45 PM
These numbers are genuinely appalling considering what is happening in the US… the UK should be a relatively *more attractive* destination in the global education marketing place for people wanting an English-language Masters degree.
One implication of this is that this might not be the seat he stands in at the GE (if he were to win it).
It's actually quite a risky move for Goodwin because even if he does win this time (entirely possible but not certain) it will be a tricky one to hold in a general.
January 27, 2026 at 2:54 PM
One implication of this is that this might not be the seat he stands in at the GE (if he were to win it).
Oh yes, the abomination for which Stalin is best remembered… his traffic management schemes.
#AngryFactCheck Fifteen-minute cities aren’t Stalinist, aren’t sinister, and are most certainly not an attempt by the WEP to control and monitor our behaviour, you barrow-full of bellends. This is mainstreaming half-baked conspiracy theories, and I’m sick of patiently explaining this to people.
January 26, 2026 at 12:19 AM
Oh yes, the abomination for which Stalin is best remembered… his traffic management schemes.
(Dated reference alert)... You know the episode of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? where they have to avoid encountering the football result before watching the highlights of the match that evening.
This must be what Mike Johnson's life is like.
"He said what..? Haven't seen it".
This must be what Mike Johnson's life is like.
"He said what..? Haven't seen it".
Mike Johnson tells me that he hasn’t seen Trump saying in Davos “what we have gotten out of NATO is nothing”
January 21, 2026 at 3:52 PM
(Dated reference alert)... You know the episode of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? where they have to avoid encountering the football result before watching the highlights of the match that evening.
This must be what Mike Johnson's life is like.
"He said what..? Haven't seen it".
This must be what Mike Johnson's life is like.
"He said what..? Haven't seen it".
Reposted by Nick Anstead
JOBS
Associate & Assistant Professorships in Public Policy, University of Cambridge
www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/about-us/car...
Associate & Assistant Professorships in Public Policy, University of Cambridge
www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/about-us/car...
Vacanies - Bennett School of Public Policy
www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk
January 21, 2026 at 2:53 PM
JOBS
Associate & Assistant Professorships in Public Policy, University of Cambridge
www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/about-us/car...
Associate & Assistant Professorships in Public Policy, University of Cambridge
www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/about-us/car...
One thing we have learned is that Trump does not understand how percentages work.
January 21, 2026 at 2:28 PM
One thing we have learned is that Trump does not understand how percentages work.
Reposted by Nick Anstead
Without America, "right now, you'd all be speaking German" Trump tells an audience in Switzerland.
January 21, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Without America, "right now, you'd all be speaking German" Trump tells an audience in Switzerland.
The bizarre thing about Trump speeches, whenever I listen to them, is they are so dull.
I am sure the highlights reel, when he drops some bombshells (which he surely will), will be spectacular. But the bulk of the text is like a Soviet Commissar banging on about tractor production numbers.
I am sure the highlights reel, when he drops some bombshells (which he surely will), will be spectacular. But the bulk of the text is like a Soviet Commissar banging on about tractor production numbers.
January 21, 2026 at 1:56 PM
The bizarre thing about Trump speeches, whenever I listen to them, is they are so dull.
I am sure the highlights reel, when he drops some bombshells (which he surely will), will be spectacular. But the bulk of the text is like a Soviet Commissar banging on about tractor production numbers.
I am sure the highlights reel, when he drops some bombshells (which he surely will), will be spectacular. But the bulk of the text is like a Soviet Commissar banging on about tractor production numbers.