Professor Adam Cygan
My research interests lie in the field of EU Public law and governance. In particular, I focus on the relationship between national parliaments and the EU Institutions within the context of the decision-making process.
Find out more about Professor Cygan here.
Dr Philip Lynch
My main research focus is on party politics on the centre right in Britain. I am particularly interested in the Conservative Party and European integration; the relationship between the Conservative Party and the British nation state; and Euroscepticism in Britain.
Find out more about Dr Lynch here.
Professor Richard Whitaker
My main research interests concern two areas: the study of legislatures, and British parties and European integration. On the first of these, my work has focused on the European Parliament and its internal organisation. I have also worked on the relationship between parliament and government at Westminster. On the second, I have focused on party competition on the centre right in Britain.
Find out more about Professor Whitaker here.
The project
Brexit reshaped the divisions within and between political parties, impacting upon the strategies adopted by parties and individual MPs, and requiring Parliament to adapt its structures and procedures. This project combined analysis of the importance of institutions, and legislative and regulatory norms with an examination of the motivations and behaviour of political parties, individual MPs and the government.
The project had four objectives.
(1) To enhance understanding of how the Brexit vote has affected UK party politics, including divisions within and between parties, the positions and preferences of MPs, party positions in Parliament and party competition on EU issues. We analysed data on the positions on the EU issue adopted by parties and MPs since 2010, assessing how divisions within parties were changing and whether new patterns of cross-party cooperation emerged.
(2) To develop knowledge of how Parliament responded to Brexit in terms of its structures and procedures, and how effective this response was. We examined the work of the Exiting the EU select Committee, the European Scrutiny Committee and other departmental select committees, collecting data on and assessing divisions and cooperation within and across these bodies.
(3) To identify those areas of policy that were most subject to conflict between and within parties and were most likely to change after the UK left the EU. Since Brexit, the UK Parliament exercises competence over a range of policy areas (e.g. environmental protection, farming, employment rights) which were hitherto legislated for at the EU level. We assessed the extent to which MPs sought to formulate UK versions of existing EU legislation or continued to broadly adopt EU norms and standards.
(4) To address the policy priorities of key stakeholders. We worked with our impact partner the Industry and Parliament Trust to:
(a) better understand the interests and concerns of business and industry stakeholders regarding the Brexit process and the changes that Brexit is likely to bring to their activities;
(b) foster effective dialogue between business and industry stakeholders and MPs; and
(c) provide business and industry stakeholders with clear guidance and analysis of the role and activity of Parliament and MPs in the Brexit process.