The SES invites an external speaker to shed light on Scottish electoral politics, voting and governance in May each year.
The series started in 2022 when we hosted former SES Principal Investigator Prof. James Mitchell (University of Edinburgh) for a talk on radicalism in Scotland and continued in 2023 when we welcomed Prof. Maria Sobolewska (University of Manchester) on ethnic minority politics in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK.
In 2024, Prof. John Garry (Queen’s University Belfast) delivered an influential lecture on losers’ consent and prospects for a border poll in Northern Ireland. The latest edition, in 2025, was delivered by Prof. Jane Green (Nuffield College, University of Oxford), on increasing electoral volatility across the UK.
2025 – Prof. Jane Green, “The Unstable Vote: How Economic Insecurity is Shaping a Divided Electorate”
2024 – Prof. John Garry, “Losers’ Consent and Sovereignty Referendums: Potential Referendums on Irish Unification“
