Kathryn Simpson

Biography

Dr Simpson is an expert primarily in European politics, Brexit, political behaviour and political economy. Her research covers three broad areas:

1. The link between public attitudes to inequality and to support the EU in the context of economic crisis.
2. Ireland - EU relations specifically the concept of nationalism and internationalism
3. Brexit - examining Euroscepticism, UK - EU - Ireland relations, NI Protocol

She is Elected Secretary and Trustee of the Academic Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES), Deputy Director of the Manchester Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (JMCE) and Series Editor of the European Politics Series published by Manchester University Press.

Dr Simpson has published her research in world leading academic journals such as The Journal of European Public Policy (JEPP), Irish Political Studies (IPS) and the Journal of Common Market Studies and is a regular contributor to academic blogs. She is Co-Editor of the book Ireland and the European Union: Economic, Political & Social Crises published by Manchester University Press (2021) and co-author of Ireland and the European Union: Nationalism in Internationalism published by Palgrave Macmillan (2023).

Prior to joining Keele, Dr Simpson worked as a Senior Lecturer in Political Economy at Manchester Metropolitan University and has held research and teaching positions at The University of Manchester (Lecturer) and University of Kent (Assistant Lecturer). She has over thirteen years teaching experience in UK Higher Education.

Dr Simpson is also a regular media commentator on European, British and Irish politics featuring on a range of local, national and international media. Between 2016-2019, she was lead Brexit Commentator for BBC Breakfast and is also a regular ‘Presenter’s Friend’ on BBC 5Live Question Time Extra Time programme.

Within the UK, Kathryn’s research has featured on BBC Sunday Politics, BBC North West Tonight, BBC Radio Five Live, BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Manchester, BBC Radio Kent among others. Internationally, her research has featured on RTE (Radio Telefis Eireann), The Irish Times, The Irish Independent, BFM TV (France’s 24hr news channel), France Inter, Bloomberg Bulgaria and ABC Australia.

She is available for comment on issues of EU politics, Irish politics and Brexit.

Research and scholarship

Research

Dr Simpson’s research expertise covers the areas of comparative European politics, political behaviour & political economy.

Dr Simpson is interested in supervising PhD students who wish to explore the three following areas (broadly defined):

1. Conceptualizing Brexit - how politics and policy will impact UK and EU governance
2. Inequality, economic insecurity and risk in the global and European context
3. Euroscepticism
4. Irish Politics - in particular, Ireland - EU and Northern Ireland - EU relations

Scholarship

Dr Simpson is a member of the following learned societies and organizations

• Elected Secretary and Trustee, Academic Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES)
• Member, Political Studies Association (PSA)
• Member, Political Studies Association of Ireland (PSAI)
• Fellow, the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

External examining

External Examiner, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University (DCU), Ireland