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Matthew James Goodwin (born 17 December 1981) is a British academic who is Professor of Politics in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent. he is a commisioner of the Social Mobility Commission.


Early life and education

He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with first-class honours in politics and contemporary history from the University of Salford in 2003 and a Master of Arts degree in political science from the University of Western Ontario in 2004, and completed his Doctor of Philosophy degree under the supervision of
Roger Eatwell Roger Eatwell is a British academic currently an Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of Bath. Since the late 1970s, Eatwell has engaged in research in fascism and populism. He defines fascism as a syncretic ideology, which could a ...
at the University of Bath in 2007.


Academic career

Goodwin worked as
Associate Professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...
of Politics at the University of Nottingham from 2010 to 2015, Research Fellow at the Institute for Political and Economic Governance (IPEG) at the University of Manchester from 2008 to 2010 and, between 2010 and 2020, Associate Fellow at the Royal Institute for International Affairs at Chatham House where he authored numerous research reports on the rise of populism, Euroscepticism ahead of the Brexit vote, the different political tribes of Europe and the future of Europe Since 2015, he has been Professor of Politics in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent. Goodwin is also a former senior fellow for the think tank ''UK in a Changing Europe'', and was the founding director of the ''Centre for UK Prosperity'' within the Legatum Institute. His research focuses on British politics, radical-right politics, and Euroscepticism. He is the co-editor of ''The New Extremism in 21st Century Britain'' (Routledge), and co-author (with
Roger Eatwell Roger Eatwell is a British academic currently an Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of Bath. Since the late 1970s, Eatwell has engaged in research in fascism and populism. He defines fascism as a syncretic ideology, which could a ...
) of ''National Populism: The Revolt Against Liberal Democracy''. He is also the author of ''New British Fascism: Rise of the British National Party'' (Routledge) and co-author (with Robert Ford) of ''Revolt on the Right: Explaining Support for the Radical Right in Britain'' (Routledge, 2014). His research has appeared in the '' New Statesman'', '' The Guardian'', ''
The Westminster Hour ''The Westminster Hour'' is a British political news review produced by BBC News, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 each Sunday evening between 22:00 and 23:00 (starting with a national and international news bulletin). The programme began to be broadcas ...
'' and ''
Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (mining ...
'' magazine. On 27 May 2017, he predicted that Labour would not reach 38 per cent of the vote in the
2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November  ...
and he would eat his book if they did. Labour did and, on 10 June, Goodwin chewed one page out of his book, live on ''
Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...
''. Some researchers criticised Goodwin and Eric Kaufmann for joining a public debate on immigration which, they argued, encouraged "normalisation of far right ideas." Goodwin is on the advisory panel of the Free Speech Union, a group founded by Toby Young that "stands up for the speech rights of its members" and "fights Twitter 'Witch-Hunts'". He has also served as Senior Advisor to the government's Education Committee on Left Behind pupils and has given evidence to the Public Bills Committee on the importance of defending academic freedom in universities


Books


''Revolt on the Right'' (2014)

* This "sparky academic study of the rise of Ukip" was selected by '' The Guardian'' as one of the best politics books of 2014, and was named as Paddy Power political book of the year for 2015. Writing in the '' Financial Times'', Kiran Stacey described it as "rich in analytical data" and containing "the occasional anecdotal gem", while in '' The Spectator''
Vernon Bogdanor Vernon Bernard Bogdanor (; born 16 July 1943) is a British political scientist and historian, research professor at the Institute for Contemporary British History at King's College London and professor of politics at the New College of the Hu ...
wrote that "This rigorous analysis of the rise of Ukip is the most important books on British politics for years".


''UKIP'' (2015)

* Writing in '' The Times'', Philip Collins said that "Goodwin and Milazzo tell their tale with brio and a fine journalistic eye for the good story" and that "they are particularly good on the Ukip threat to Labour".


''Brexit'' (2017)

* This "illuminating analysis of the many factors that swayed the referendum" was selected by
Danny Dorling Danny Dorling (born 16 January 1968) is a British social geographer. Since 2013, he has been Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography of the School of Geography and the Environment of the University of Oxford. He is also a visiting professor ...
as '' Times Higher Education'' book of the week.


''National Populism'' (2018)

* This book attempts to explain national populism using a '4D model': destruction of the national culture due to large-scale international migration; deprivation of opportunities due to globalization and in the post-industrial economy with its frequent disruptions and slow growth; growing distrust by working-class and rural voters who feel increasingly alienated by liberal cosmopolitan city-dwelling political and media elites; and de-alignment from traditional allegiances, which can be seen in high levels of voter volatility, or people switching from one party to another between elections.


''This England'' (2021)

''This England: Nation, Identity and Belonging'', a book evaluating Brexit, populism and immigration, was due to be published by
Penguin Press Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initial ...
in 2021. but publication has since been abandoned


''Values, Voice and Virtue'' (2023)

''Values, Voice and Virtue: The New British Politics'' will be published by Penguin Books in 2023.


Honours

In 2014, aged 33, Goodwin was awarded the
Richard Rose Richard Rose may refer to: * Richard Rose (mystic) (1917–2005), American mystic, esoteric philosopher, author, poet, and investigator of paranormal phenomena *Richard Rose (political scientist) (born 1933), American political scientist and profess ...
Prize by the Political Studies Association, which is given to one early career academic each year for their contribution to research.


See also

* David Goodhart * Eric Kaufmann


References


External links

*
Matt Goodwin's Substack
newsletter {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Matthew 1981 births Living people Alumni of the University of Salford University of Western Ontario alumni Alumni of the University of Bath British political scientists Academics of the University of Manchester Academics of the University of Nottingham Academics and writers on far-right extremism Chatham House people