British Social Attitudes 41 | Damaged Politics?
Event
British Social Attitudes (BSA): Policy challenges in fragmented politics
Join us for the launch of the latest BSA report
Register for the in-person event
Join us on 25 June in London for the launch of the latest British Social Attitudes report. This year's research captures public opinion from Autumn 2024, shortly after Labour won their first General Election in almost 20 years.
We will present new insights into voting patterns in the 2024 election, checking the ‘health’ of Britain’s democracy. Has trust in government and its politicians changed after Labour's election win, are we happy with how government works or still as disillusioned? We will also explore how public attitudes align with Labour's policies for addressing the substantial social challenges the UK faces, their views on public services, taxation, and spending priorities.
These latest British Social Attitudes will also report on the impact of social media on political attitudes. Who relies on social media for news; how credible do they consider that information, and do they encounter a diversity of opinion; and how does this affect their political attitudes, engagement, and trust?
Finally, as conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza continue, and Donald Trump appears to be re-aligning the global order, we will share the public’s perspectives on military spending, security, and defence, including which countries are seen as the most serious threats and whether defence should be a higher government priority.
Book your place at this free event for an engaging discussion and gain valuable insights into the public's attitudes on these critical issues.
Speakers
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Sir John CurticeSenior Research Fellow National Centre for Social Research
Sir John Curtice is Senior Research Fellow at NatCen, Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University, and Chief Commentator on the What UK Thinks: EU and What Scotland Thinks websites.
He has been a regular contributor to the annual British Social Attitudes report since 1986 and an editor since 1994. He has also been a Co-Director of the Scottish Social Attitudes survey since its foundation in 1999, and his analyses of Scottish public opinion in the run up to the independence referendum were frequently featured throughout the campaigns.
In 2018, he received a knighthood in the New Year's Honours list. Sir John is a regular media commentator on both British and Scottish politics.
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Alex ScholesResearch Director National Centre for Social Research
Alex is a Research Director on the Attitudinal Surveys and NatCen Opinion Panel team, where he leads on delivery of the British Social Attitudes survey. He first joined the organisation as a Researcher on the ScotCen team following the completion of his Masters in September 2018. Alex has worked on a variety of projects since then, including the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, the Scottish Health Survey and the ESRC funded 'WhatUKThinks:EU' and 'WhatScotlandThinks' websites.
As well as the British Social Attitudes survey, Alex also works on the NatCen Opinion Panel and the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), a cross-national survey programme with over 40 members. -
Marta MezzanzanicaResearch Director National Centre for Social Research
Marta Mezzanzanica is a Research Director in the Attitudinal Surveys and the NatCen Panel team where she leads the NatCen Opinion Panel, the UK’s first mixed-mode random probability research panel. In this role, Marta manages and delivers quantitative research on a wide range of topics for various clients, including government departments, charities, and academics.
Marta has a wealth of experience at all stages of mixed-mode and multi-mode studies, including survey development, participant communications, interviewer briefing, fieldwork monitoring, analysis and reporting.
During her tenure at NatCen, Marta has contributed to some of Britain’s largest longitudinal surveys, such as the National Child Development Study (NCDS) for the Centre for Longitudinal Studies and the Technical Educational Learners study (Tech Ed) for the Department of Education.
Before joining NatCen, Marta worked at Codici sc, a social research agency specialising in ‘action-research’ and ‘empowerment processes’ on issues such as education, communities, inclusion, and migration. Additionally, she managed large-scale mixed-mode customer satisfaction surveys at Doxa (now BVA Doxa).
Marta holds an MSc (Hons) in Sociology from Università degli Studi di Milano (Milan). Her dissertation, which focused on the politics of the body, used in-depth interviews to explore the narratives of young Afro-Italians and their role in redefining the meaning of afro hairdos.
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Gianfranco AddarioResearch Director National Centre for Social Research
Chair
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Saratha RajeswaranTrustee National Centre for Social Research
Sara is Chief of Staff to the Group CEO at Aviva plc, a leading insurance, wealth and retirement business in the UK, Ireland and Canada. Sara has almost twenty years’ experience in executive advice, corporate affairs and political consultancy. Previous roles include Director of External Affairs at the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, Associate Director and Edelman, and Chief of Staff to the CEO and Strategy Adviser to the Chairman of Network Rail. Sara has also worked for the UK Government as Special Adviser to two consecutive Environment Secretaries.
Sara co-authored A Portrait of Modern Britain with Rishi Sunak at Policy Exchange in 2014 and was researcher to Professor Alison Wolf for her book The XX Factor: How Working Women Are Creating a New Society.
