Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira's research shapes parliamentary practice

Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira has co-organised the first ever meeting of the Petitions teams of the four parliaments of the United Kingdom to discuss latest research.

Together with officials at the Welsh Parliament (Senedd Cymru), Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira has co-organised the first ever meeting of the Petitions teams of the four parliaments of the United Kingdom (the Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish Parliament, UK Parliament and Welsh Parliament) to share and discuss the latest research and practice on petitions to parliament.

The workshop took place on 6 July 2023 at the Welsh Parliament in Cardiff and included a session in which parliamentary officials shared their practices, as well as providing opportunities for discussion between academics and officials, following the presentation of key findings from two of the research projects with which Professor Leston-Bandeira is involved. These projects are:

• Petitioning and People Power in Twentieth-Century Britain (funded by ESRC/AHRC)

Co-investigators: Professor Richard Huzzey (Principal Investigator) and Dr Henry Miller (Durham University) and Dr Anna Bocking-Welch (University of Liverpool)

• Addressing Barriers to Political Engagement (Funded by Research England)

Co-investigator: Dr Blagovesta Tacheva (University of Leeds)

Parliamentary staff at the workshop said how useful the event had been in informing their own practice in parliament. Jack Sargeant MS tweeted his support for the workshop and the success of the event was clear as all involved have agreed to meet again next year, this time in London at the UK Parliament.

A live scribing of the workshop (by Nifty Fox) summarising main points covered in the workshop is available to view.

Photo: Visual Summary presented in Parliament (by Research Retold)

Professor Leston-Bandeira and her colleagues Professor Huzzey, Dr Miller and Dr Bocking-Welch also presented key findings of their project at the UK parliament, as part of an event organised by the History of Parliament Trust. Professor Leston-Bandeira, finally, also found time to record a podcast with the Chair of the Petitions Committee of the UK Parliament about petitioning parliament, its value and challenges.

A podcast, 'What happens to Parliamentary Petitions?', featuring Professor Leston-Bandeira, has been released by the UK Parliament as part of their Committee Corridor podcast series. This episode is hosted by Catherine McKinnell MP, the Chair of the Petitions Committee at the House of Commons and Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North, and also features Andy Airey, one of the ‘Three Dads Walking’ who petitioned Parliament to make suicide prevention a compulsory part of the school curriculum, and Nick Fletcher MP, the member of the Petitions Committee who opened the debate in the House of Commons. The Petitions Committee has posted about the podcast episode on X.