Dr Chris Hanretty, well-known election commentator and academic, will be joining the Department of Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway in September 2017, where he will be taking up a professorship.

Dr Hanretty said "I'm really excited to be joining the department, and in particular looking forward to working together with colleagues in the Democracy and Elections Centre.

“As the general election showed, understanding an election means understanding lots of different things, from turnout, to candidates and campaigning, to voter behaviour. Royal Holloway has experts in each of these areas. I want to learn from my new colleagues, and work with them to build the Democracy and Elections Centre into a real powerhouse for understanding elections in the UK and beyond."

Dr Hanretty blogs regularly for Medium, and has written for The Times, FT and the Guardian as well as writing several books and highly regarded papers. Professor Hanretty will be joining colleagues including Dr Oliver Heath, Dr Kaat Smets and Dr Nick Allen to research and teach on topics including political engagement, international politics and the conduct of politicians and political parties.

Undergraduate and postgraduate students will have the opportunity to work with Professor Hanretty, and he will be contributing to our new Elections, Campaigns and Democracy MSc.

Professor Sandra Halperin, Head of the Department of Politics and International Relations said “We are delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Chris Hanretty as Professor of Politics in the Department of Politics and International relations, Chris is at the cutting edge of research and with his gift for enlightening the often foggy world of political polling, we are excited that students in the department will get the opportunity to work with him.

“His appointment will serve to enhance our existing expertise in electoral politics, cementing Royal Holloway as being right at the forefront in this area.”