Prof. Matthew Goodwin

Matthew joined the University of Kent in 2015 and is known for his work on British and European politics, populism, immigration and Euroscepticism. Matthew holds a B.A. (First Class Hons), M.A. and PhD. He started his academic career working for a self-funded research institute at the University of Manchester. He was then awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship with the Economic and Social Research Council. In 2010, he was appointed lecturer at the University of Nottingham, where he completed projects funded by the Leverhulme Trust, Nuffield Foundation, British Academy and others. He was also the recipient of an ESRC Knowledge Exchange Fellowship and spent twelve months on a full-time secondment in a central government department. In 2015 he was appointed Professor of Politics at the University of Kent.

Matthew's contribution to research has been recognised by several bodies. In 2014 he was recipient of the Richard Rose Prize for his distinctive contribution to the study of politics. In the same year, he was awarded the Communicator Prize for his dissemination of social science research to a wider audience. In 2015, he won the Paddy Power Political Book of the Year for Revolt on the Right, co-authored with Robert Ford, which was also long-listed for the Orwell Prize. He has published six books, including National Populism: The Revolt Against Liberal Democracy (Penguin) and dozens of peer-reviewed articles in journals such as the British Journal of Political Science, Electoral Studies, European Journal of Political Research and Party Politics. Since completing his PhD, he has attracted around £2 million in external research funding.

Matthew has several other roles and responsibilities. Since 2008 he has been co-editor of the Routledge book series on Extremism and Democracy. Between 2011 and 2015 he served as a member of the UK government's working group on anti-Muslim hatred. Between 2013 and 2016 he was a Trustee and member of the executive committee of the Political Studies Association, a leading association for the study of politics that was founded in 1950. Matthew is an outward-facing researcher who shares the view that social science should be as much about contributing to wider society as to the social sciences. He frequently appears in broadcast and print media and has engaged with more than 200 non-academic organizations, from the European Parliament and U.S. State Department to the Prime Minister’s Office and Deutsche Bank.