Professor Oliver Heath and Dr Kaat Smets, both from the Department of Politics and International Relations, have been appointed as editors of Electoral Studies, a top journal in the field.

“We think this is an amazing opportunity not only for us, but for the Department and the College as well,” said Dr Kaat Smets. “Housing a key specialist journal in the area of electoral behaviour will really help to strengthen the new Democracy and Elections Centre and help to put Royal Holloway's expertise in this area on the map. Oliver and I are very excited about the opportunity and are fully committed to making it a success. It’s a great honour for us to follow Harold Clarke and Geoff Evans, the current editors, who have set such a high standard for the journal.”

Prestigious appointment

Professor Oliver Heath commented: “Housing the journal in the department will also bring our students closer to cutting-edge research, and the aims and scope of the journal closely align with those of our new Elections, Campaigns and Democracy MSc. We are grateful to Royal Holloway for providing us with a fully funded PhD studentship, allowing a postgraduate student to gain valuable experience as an editorial assistant on the journal. As announced earlier, the Democracy and Elections Centre will soon be joined by elections expert Chris Hanretty, who will be taking up a professorship in September making Royal Holloway a real powerhouse for the study of electoral politics.”

The pair will officially take over in January.

Find out more about the Democracy and Elections Centre, and our new Elections, Campaigns and Democracy MSc. at the the Department of Politics and International Relations