Speaking with Professor Sir John Curtice about the Challenge of Reform UK

Professor Sir John Curtice is coming to the South Campus Teaching Hub on Wednesday 21 October, for a talk on the challenge of Reform UK. It's being hosted by the University of Liverpool's Department of Politics, and it runs from 2:30pm to 4:00pm.

If you've watched any general election coverage in the UK, you'll know the name. Curtice is the man who leads the broadcasters' exit poll team on election night, and he's earned the nickname 'the man who gets elections right' for it. He's a leading British political scientist, currently Professor of Politics at the University of Strathclyde and a Senior Research Fellow at the National Centre for Social Research.

The talk itself focuses on the rise of Reform UK, which across 2025 and 2026 posed the biggest challenge yet to Britain's post-war two-party system. Curtice will be working through that shift using data from the British Social Attitudes survey, so it's less about political punditry and more about what the numbers actually show. It's a good chance to hear one of the country's most respected analysts break down a party that's been at the centre of the political conversation for the last couple of years.

There's a bit of a homecoming angle here too. Curtice's first academic post was at the University of Liverpool, and the university awarded him an honorary doctorate last year, so this is a return to where he started. The session is part of the Department of Politics' 70th anniversary celebrations, and the department is the one organising it. You'll find it in Lecture Theatre 4 at the South Campus Teaching Hub, 140 Chatham Street, Liverpool L7 7BA, from 2:30pm to 4:00pm on Wednesday 21 October.