- Liberal Democrats in coalition: education Griffiths, Simon. 2016. Liberal Democrats in coalition: education. Journal of Liberal History 92 – Special issue: Liberal Democrats and the coalition: the policy record, 92,
- What was Progressive in ‘Progressive Conservatism’? Griffiths, Simon. 2014. What was Progressive in ‘Progressive Conservatism’? Political Studies Review, 12(1), pp. 29-40. ISSN 1478-9299
- Engaging enemies: Exploring the left’s fascination with Friedrich Hayek Griffiths, Simon. 2014. Engaging enemies: Exploring the left’s fascination with Friedrich Hayek. Juncture, 21(3), pp. 204-209. ISSN 2050-5876
- Pluralism, neo-liberalism and the ‘all-knowing’ state Griffiths, Simon. 2011. Pluralism, neo-liberalism and the ‘all-knowing’ state. Journal of Political Ideologies, 16(3), pp. 295-311. ISSN 1356-9317
- ‘The retreat of the state: Conservative ‘modernisation’ and the public services’ Griffiths, Simon. 2011. ‘The retreat of the state: Conservative ‘modernisation’ and the public services’. Public Policy Research, 18(1), pp. 23-29. ISSN 1744-5396
- The Public Services Under Gordon Brown – Similar Reforms, Less Money Griffiths, Simon. 2009. The Public Services Under Gordon Brown – Similar Reforms, Less Money. Policy Studies, 30(1), pp. 53-67. ISSN 0144-2872
- 'Comrade Hayek' or the revival of liberalism? Andrew Gamble's engagement with the work of Friedrich Hayek Griffiths, Simon. 2007. 'Comrade Hayek' or the revival of liberalism? Andrew Gamble's engagement with the work of Friedrich Hayek. Journal of Political Ideologies, 12(2), pp. 189-210. ISSN 1356-9317
- Market socialism in retrospect Griffiths, Simon. 2006. Market socialism in retrospect. Contemporary Politics, 12(1), pp. 25-44. ISSN 1356-9775
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
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
Article
- ‘Sand in a Picnic’: Kenneth Minogue on Ideology Griffiths, Simon. 2025. ‘Sand in a Picnic’: Kenneth Minogue on Ideology. Society, 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, 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
