Dr Simon Griffiths

Simon teaches, writes about, and comments on, contemporary British politics, the history of political thought in the UK, and public policy.

Staff details

Position

Head of Department, Reader

Department

Politics and International Relations

Email

s.griffiths (@gold.ac.uk)

Dr Simon Griffiths writes about British politics, the history of ideas, and public policy.

He joined the department in 2008 and was formerly Senior Policy Advisor at the British Academy, where he set up their Policy Centre. Before that he worked at a leading think tank; for the sociologist, Anthony Giddens; and as a parliamentary researcher.

In 2010-11, Simon was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Political Ideologies at Oxford University. He has also taught at Queen Mary, University of London, and the LSE. Simon has written for newspapers such as The Independent, Times and The Guardian, and often appears on TV and radio to discuss British politics.

Teaching

Simon teaches various modules in British politics and public policy from first year to third year and convenes the School’s third year work placement module.

In 2025, he became a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He completed a Postgraduate Certificate in the Management of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education in 2013.

Area of supervision

Simon has supervised PhDs on New Labour, post-war Conservatism, trade unionism and the Conservative Party and public services. He would be interested in supervising students in, amongst other things, contemporary British politics, political parties and ideology, the public services, or the recent history of British political thought.

Academic qualifications

PhD, London School of Economics, 2006
MSc in Political Theory, London School of Economics, 2001
BA (Hons) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, Wadham College, Oxford, 1998

Publications and research outputs

Book

British Politics Griffiths, Simon ; and Leach, Robert. 2018. British Politics. London: Macmillan Higher Education. ISBN 9781137603005
Engaging Enemies: Hayek and the Left Griffiths, Simon . 2014. Engaging Enemies: Hayek and the Left. London: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781783481064

Edited Book

Public Services: A New Reform Agenda Griffiths, Simon ; Kippin, Henry; and Stoker, Gerry, eds. 2013. Public Services: A New Reform Agenda. London: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781849665940
British Political Parties and Ideology after New Labour Griffiths, Simon ; and Hickson, Kevin, eds. 2010. British Political Parties and Ideology after New Labour. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-22076-8
Well-being: How to lead the good life and what government should do to help Griffiths, Simon ; and Reeves, Richard, eds. 2009. Well-being: How to lead the good life and what government should do to help. London: Social Market Foundation. ISBN 1904899676

Book Section

Plant and the Transformation of the Left Griffiths, Simon . 2025. Plant and the Transformation of the Left. In: Matt Beech and Kevin Hickson, eds. The Idea of the Good Society: Essays in Honour of Raymond Plant. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 148-164. ISBN 9780198872481
The contracting state: austerity and the public services Griffiths, Simon . 2020. The contracting state: austerity and the public services. In: M Guderjan; H Mackay and G Stedman, eds. Contested Britain Brexit, Austerity and Agency. Bristol University Press. ISBN 9781529205022
‘I’m Telling You, and You’ll Listen’: Ethos in the Rhetoric of Neil Kinnock Griffiths, Simon . 2017. ‘I’m Telling You, and You’ll Listen’: Ethos in the Rhetoric of Neil Kinnock. In: Judi Atkins and John Gaffney, eds. Voices of the UK Left Rhetoric, Ideology and the Performance of Politics. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 23-37. ISBN 978-3-319-51901-2

Public Services Griffiths, Simon . 2016. Public Services. In: Kevin Hickson, ed. Rebuilding Social Democracy: core principles for the centre left. Bristol: Policy Press, pp. 59-76. ISBN 9781447333173
Party politics and ideology in hard times: preface to the 2015 paperback edition Griffiths, Simon ; and Hickson, Kevin. 2015. Party politics and ideology in hard times: preface to the 2015 paperback edition. In: Simon Griffiths and Kevin Hickson, eds. British Political Parties and Ideology after New Labour. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-22076-8
Education Policy: consumerism and competition Griffiths, Simon . 2015. Education Policy: consumerism and competition. In: Simon Lee and Matt Beech, eds. The Conservative-Liberal Coalition Evaluated: Examining the Legacy of the Cameron-Clegg Government. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-46137-7
Introduction Griffiths, Simon ; and Kippin, Henry. 2013. Introduction. In: Simon Griffiths; Henry Kippin and Gerry Stoker, eds. Public Services: A New Reform Agenda. London: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 1-14. ISBN 9781849663489
British Socialism in and after the Twentieth Century Griffiths, Simon . 2013. British Socialism in and after the Twentieth Century. In: Paul Kelly and Sato Seishi, eds. Between Pluralism and Multiculturalism; Studies in Contemporary British Political Thought. Waseda University Press.
Neil Kinnock Griffiths, Simon . 2012. Neil Kinnock. In: Timothy Heppell, ed. Leaders of the Opposition. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 142-154. ISBN 9780230296473
The Con/Lib Agenda for Education: Learning the Hard Way? Griffiths, Simon . 2011. The Con/Lib Agenda for Education: Learning the Hard Way? In: Simon Lee and Matt Beech, eds. The Cameron-Clegg Government:Coalition Politics in an Age of Austerity. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 75-88. ISBN 9780230290716
New Labour, New Liberalism and Revisionism's Second Wave Griffiths, Simon . 2010. New Labour, New Liberalism and Revisionism's Second Wave. In: Simon Griffiths and Kevin Hickson, eds. British Party Politics and Ideology after New Labour. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 70-86. ISBN 978-0-230-22076-8
Introduction Griffiths, Simon ; and Hickson, Kevin. 2009. Introduction. In: Simon Griffiths and Kevin Hickson, eds. British Political Parties and Ideology After New Labour. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1-8. ISBN 978-1137516435
Preface: Government and the Good Life Griffiths, Simon . 2009. Preface: Government and the Good Life. In: UNSPECIFIED, ed. Well-being: how to lead the good life and what government should do to help. Social Market Foundation.
Preface Griffiths, Simon . 2009. Preface. In: Simon Griffiths and Richard Reeves, eds. Well-being. The Social Market Foundation.
Cameron’s Conservatives and Public Service Reform Griffiths, Simon . 2009. Cameron’s Conservatives and Public Service Reform. In: Matt Beech and Simon Lee, eds. The Conservatives under David Cameron Built to Last? Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 97-108. ISBN 978-0-230-57565-3

Article

‘Sand in a Picnic’: Kenneth Minogue on Ideology Griffiths, Simon . 2025. ‘Sand in a Picnic’: Kenneth Minogue on Ideology. Society, 62(5), pp. 618-627. ISSN 0147-2011
Starmer’s election victory: from the politics of support to the politics of power Griffiths, Simon . 2025. Starmer’s election victory: from the politics of support to the politics of power. British Politics, 20(2), pp. 115-134. ISSN 1746-918X
Public Services after Austerity: Zombies, Suez or Collaboration? Griffiths, Simon ; and Kippin, Henry. 2017. Public Services after Austerity: Zombies, Suez or Collaboration? Political quarterly, 88(3), pp. 417-424. ISSN 0032-3179

Articles related to Dr Simon Griffiths

Where do we go from here? Here's our politics experts' take on Brexit

30 Jun 2016