Public attitudes on the state of the state
Our Team and Partners
The Union Survey brings together a series of past and ongoing projects, which analyse public attitudes to the state of the UK, principally in England. We focus on questions of Englishness, Britishness and the relationship between the United Kingdom's component parts.
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We analyse survey data gathered over multiple editions but using the same battery of questions, which have been adapted slightly over time to account for major political changes such as Brexit. The work is led by Ailsa Henderson and Richard Wyn Jones, much whose extensive writing on the subject of Englishness is available through this site.
We are immensely grateful to the organisations whose support has made this work possible over the years, and which are listed below.
The Union Survey Team
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Ailsa Henderson
Co-Director and Professor of Political Science, University of Edinburgh
Professor Ailsa Henderson FRSE FAcSS CStat is Professor of Political Science at the University of Edinburgh, where she also serves as Associate Dean of Research Impact for the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Professor Henderson conducts research on political culture(s) and political behaviour in federal and multi-national states, and focuses in particular on variations in political culture at the sub-state level. Her publications explore how national identity, federalism, devolution or institutional design can affect regional variations in political attitudes and behaviours. As well as co-directing the Union Survey and the Future of England Survey, she is the Principal Investigator for the ESRC-funded Scottish Election Study Recent international grants cover political parties and voting behaviour in Scotland and Quebec (SSHRCC) and the Provincial Diversity Project, a study of attitudinal variation across the ten Canadian provinces (SSHRCC).Chairs Boundaries Scotland, and is a Commissioner of the Boundary Commission for Scotland, and a director of Edinburgh Innovations.
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Richard Wyn Jones
Co-Director and Professor of Welsh Politics, Cardiff University
Professor Richard Wyn Jones FAcSS FLSW is Professor of Welsh Politics at Cardiff University, where he is also Director of the university's Wales Governance Centre and Dean of Public Affairs. He has published 8 books and 7 edited books/collections, as well as numerous academic articles and chapters. His current work focuses on contemporary Welsh politics, devolved politics in the UK and nationalism. He is also considered to be one of the founders of Critical Security Studies. Richard is a regular and widely respected broadcaster, commentating on Welsh politics in both Welsh and English for the BBC in Wales and across the UK. He has presented two TV series and is a regular columnist for the Welsh language current affairs magazine Barn. In addition, he has contributed comment columns to a number of newspapers including the Western Mail, Irish Times, The Guardian and Sunday Times, and has been extensively quoted in the international press.
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Nick Bibby
Communications Lead and Director of Research and Impact Ltd.
Nick Bibby FRSA FAcSS is an expert in the communication and mobilisations of academic knowledge, with a particular focus on social science. He is an honorary professor in the School of Social Science and Education at the University of the West of Scotland, and Director of the consultancy and training company Research and Impact Ltd. He previously founded the Scottish Policy & Research Exchange and much of his work continues to be at the interface of academic knowledge and public policy. He is a former political journalist, with credits for the BBC, STV, Scotland, Herald and a range of London-based publications. In addition to his work with the Union Survey, he leads or supports communications activities on a wide range of research projects. He chairs the Scottish International Education Trust and is a board member of ScotChem.
Thank You to Our Funders and Partners
The Union Survey and its predecessor research projects have received funding or other forms of support from many sources over the last decade and a half. We are hugely grateful for their support of our previous and current work, and look forward to future collaborations.
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While funding is an important part of any research project, we are also grateful for the guidance, support and partnership of many other organisations. The Union Survey will continue to explore the forces that shape British politics, and disseminate that research to audiences in policy, the media and across the wider electorate. Thank you for your help in making that possible.
