Dr Ben Clements

I am Associate Professor in the School of History, Politics and International Relations. I have been at Leicester since 2010 and before that worked in a research post at the School of Education, University of Birmingham. I studied for my MA and PhD at the Department of Government, University of Essex. My PhD thesis was awarded the ‘Arthur McDougall Fund Prize for best dissertation in elections, electoral systems or representation’ by the Political Studies Association in April 2009.

I am a co-convener of the Political Studies Association's specialist group on Politics and Religion. I am a contributor to and a member of the project board for the British Religion in Numbers website.

My research focuses on three main areas.

Firstly, the role of religion in British politics and society, specifically the impact of religion on socio-political attitudes in Britain, and Catholics in Britain, including how they engage with their faith and the Catholic Church and their attitudes on social and political issues. I was the principal investigator for a recently-completed AHRC-funded project (with Professor Stephen Bullivant, St Mary's University): 'Roman Catholics in Britain: Faith Society and Politics.' For more information, please see the project website. The survey dataset and user documentation from this project are available from the UK Data Service: 'Catholics in Britain Survey, 2019'.

Secondly, public opinion on foreign and defence policy in post-war Britain, looking at attitudes in long-term and contemporary perspective on issues such as military intervention, the nuclear deterrent, European integration, the Commonwealth, US-UK relations, NATO, as well as how these issues relate to parties, elections, and wider society.

Thirdly, I am interested in public opinion in Britain on environmental issues, in both long-term and contemporary perspective. 

I convene the following modules:

• PL3127 Political Participation in Britain.
• PL3137 The Politics of Contemporary British Foreign Policy.
• PL1012 Comparative European Politics.

I contribute to:

PL7161 International Relations After the Cold War.

I also contribute to other team-taught undergraduate modules. I supervise undergraduate, postgraduate and DL dissertations.

I am involved in supervising PhD students in Politics and International Relations and in History.

The role of religion in British politics; attitudes and religious engagement of Catholics in Britain; public opinion on foreign and defence policy in Britain.

'A Cold War and Some Hot Potatoes: British Public Opinion Towards the USA’s International Role in the 1950s-60s', paper presented to the TSA Annual Conference, July 2023, Plymouth.

'A Cold War and Some Hot Potatoes: British Public Opinion Towards the USA’s International Role in the 1950s-60s', paper presented at the workshop on 'Politics, Policy and Publics in the United States and United Kingdom: Exploring Linkages and Making Comparisons', May 2023, University of Leicester.

'From Bush to Biden: British public opinion towards UK-US relations in the 21st Century', paper presented at the TSA Annual Conference, July 2022, Canterbury.

'Catholics in Britain: Attitudes towards moral and structural issues relating to the Catholic Church', paper presented at the PSA Annual Conference, March 2021, Belfast.

With N. Carter, 'Greener and Greener? A long-term perspective on the British public and environmental issues', paper presented at the PSA Annual Conference, April 2019, Nottingham.

With K. Nanou and J. Real-Dato, 'To respond or not to respond? The economic crisis public opinion and party positions on European integration', paper presented at the ECPR EU Standing Group Conference, June 2018, Paris.

'Conservative Party supporters' views on foreign policy: Then and now', Annual PSA Conference, March 2018, Cardiff.

Contributed to a panel on 'Permissiveness', 'What is Contemporary British History Now?' Conference, September 2017, King's College London.

'“Charity begins at home?” A review of public opinion in Britain towards foreign aid spending', Contemporary UK Development Aid conference, July 2017, University of Leeds.

'Catholics in Britain: Social Attitudes and Party Support,' Annual PSA Conference, April 2017, Glasgow.

'Surveying Non-Religion in Britain: Historical Trends and Contemporary Analysis', Annual PSA Conference, March 2016, Brighton.

I am a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.