Dr Elizabeth Simon, BA (Warwick), MSc (Southampton); PhD (Southampton)

Profile

Elizabeth is a Postdoctoral Researcher in British Politics. She is based in the Mile End Institute and Queen Mary’s School of Politics and International Relations, which she joined in December 2022, after completing a PhD at the University of Southampton.

Elizabeth’s research interests extend broadly across the topic of political behaviour, public opinion and attitudinal formation. She is currently working on a number of projects that consider how educational attainment and other key socio-demographic variables (including age, housing tenure and geographical location), inequalities and identity formation impact the ways individuals think and vote in Britain today. 

Teaching

POL105 Political Analysis

POL269 Political Data Research

Research

Research Interests:

Electoral behaviour, educational attainment, public opinion, attitudinal formation, identity politics, inequalities, quantitative methods

Examples of research funding:

Awarded a Queen Mary Impact Fund Grant (with Prof. Patrick Diamond and Dr Karl Pike) in February 2023 for collaborative work with Centre for London on a data analysis, research dissemination and public policy engagement project focussing on Londoners’ wellbeing.

Publications

Simon, E. (2023) Last Word: The Politics of Britain’s Educational Divide. Political Insight, 14(2): 40-40. DOI: 10.1177/20419058231181292

Simon, E. (2022) Explaining the educational divide in electoral behaviour: testing direct and indirect effects from British elections and referendums 2016–2019. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 32(4): 980-1000. DOI: 10.1080/17457289.2021.2013247

Simon, E. (2022) Demystifying the link between higher education and liberal values: A within-sibship analysis of British individuals’ attitudes from 1994–2020. The British Journal of Sociology, 73(5): 967-984. DOI: 10.1111/1468-4446.12972.

Kanagasooriam, J. and Simon, E. (2021) Red Wall: The definitive description. Political Insight, 12(3): 8-11. DOI: 10.1177/20419058211045127.