Pat Gray, of London Met's Master of Public Administration programme led the seminar and brought together academics from Russia, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria and the UK.
The Jean Monnet Project TranPol, the brainchild of the University of Passau in Germany, gathers experts in the field of research on party systems in Europe from Germany, Great Britain, Poland, Bulgaria and Russia. Through the project, the participants are given the opportunity to engage in multiple short conferences on the transformations experienced by the national systems in the post-crisis years, and exchange information.
Prof Steven Haseler, director of the Global Policy Institute (UK) outlined the results of the 2015 UK election and the issues of BREXIT (British exit from the EU) and the rise of new forms of right and left populism.
From London Metropolitan University, Mr Pat Gray presented the fascinating case of UKIP's emergence as an electoral force, followed by Dr Diana Stirbu (Master in Public Administration) with an account of the UK nationalist parties' transformation post-devolution. Professor Norman Ginsburg, from the department of Social Policy talked about migration and its ideological reflection in the changing party programmes of UK and Europe, whilst Dr Wendy Stokes, Director of Research at the University talked about 'Women's Parties' and the challenges to male dominance in the systems of candidate selection in the UK and Europe.
