Dr Louise Thompson is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester. She is the author of Making British Law: Committees in Action (Palgrave), co-editor of Exploring Parliament (OUP) and the journal Parliamentary Affairs, and is the recent winner of the PSA’s Richard Rose Prize, which is awarded to an early career scholar who has made a distinctive contribution to British politics.

Please tell us a little bit about how you entered academia and your academic career

I started my undergraduate degree in British Politics and Legislative Studies at Hull University in 2003. It was fab, but after a placement year at Westminster with Labour MP Ed Balls just after the 2005 General Election I thought “proper” politics was the place to be. I worked at the Smith Institute for six months when I graduated, then as an opposition researcher for the Labour Party for a couple of years. I did an online MA part time (also at Hull) while I was working at the Labour Party and then came back to Hull properly to do my PhD. And that was that.

Which five books/articles (written by someone else) have been most important to you in your academic career?

The British Polity (Philip Norton) I read this as an A Level student and honestly, I used to carry that book everywhere. I bought it from a Politico’s catalogue I think when I first started sixth form.

Parliamentary Scrutiny of Government Bills (JAG Griffith): A super super book that inspired my PhD. I still use it all the time.  

J Blondel et al, ‘Legislative Behaviour: Some steps towards a cross party measurement’, Government and Opposition, Vol. 5 (1) 1970, pp. 67-85: As above, the idea of viscosity was the basis of my PhD research. I got an email from Jean out of the blue a few years ago. He’d read one of my articles about the SNP at Westminster and we had lunch together to chat about it. Amazing.

Legislatures (Philip Norton ed): As a undergraduate student at Hull this was THE book to get your hands on. It was out of print and we’d all try to find it on amazon but it was always over a £100 for a second hand copy. When we were on placement in parliament my course mate (and now husband) got it out of the House of Commons library and we (kind of illegally) photocopied the whole thing. Apologies to the Commons library. We are very sorry. I’ve still got the photocopy in a folder in my office and I use it all the time. But I did also finally manage to get an amazon copy for a fiver. It only took about 15 years of waiting.

Which person has been most influential and important to you in your academic career?

There’s a bit of a Hull theme to all these answers, It has to be the one and only Cristina Leston-Bandeira.  When I went to the Hull University open day my mum embarrassed me in front of her and Lord Norton (I still cringe about that). Cristina taught me from my very first week as an undergraduate student and I can still remember so many of her tutorials. If I needed any help, she was always the one I would go to. She taught me on my MA and became one of my PhD supervisors. I used to describe her as my academic ‘mum’ – holding my hand through everything and cheering me up/ taking me out for lunch when I was miserable. When I had my first baby she came round to my house with baking. When I’ve had rejections at work she’s always the one with the smiling face and the good advice. She’s my best mate and god mum to my eldest daughter, Alba. Alba knows her only as ‘Portuguese Cristina’. In fact, in our house she is known only as Portuguese Cristina, or CLB. Hopefully she knows how special she is to us all!

What is the first or most important thing you tell your students about parliaments?

That they are NOT government!

Where were you born, where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

I was born in Keighley, West Yorkshire. I lived there with my mum and my sister until I went to University. I’ve moved around a lot since then (London, back to Hull, Kent, London again, back to Hull, Surrey, Kent again, then Sheffield). I’m still in Sheffield right now, but about to move back to where I grew up. I’m surrounded by boxes as I write this.

What was your first job?

I got a job working in Greggs when I was about 17 because I wanted to save up for a laptop for when I went to university.  I worked Saturdays plus one evening in the week to clean the shop. At the end of the day we could buy the leftover cakes for about 10p each so I’d bring them all home.  I still love Greggs. I took the kids there today! I had a paper round at the same time that I hated.  My dad is a mechanic and I used to wash ALL the cars on the garage forecourt where he worked each week in the school holidays for a tenner, with my sister.  It took us ages.

What was the toughest job you ever had?

I used to do temp work over the summer holidays and one summer landed a job as an arrears chaser for a mortgage company. That was really horrid.

Working at the Labour party during the MP expenses scandal was also a tough one. Being asked to scroll through Conservative MP expense claims to look for daft items was the point at which I realised that politics was not for me.

What are your hobbies?

They mainly revolve around the kids at the moment. I like baking when I have time (anything but biscuits, I just can’t make biscuits) and I read a lot on the train to work. I do some volunteering for the Breastfeeding Network. In a couple of months I’ll be starting some shifts on the National Breastfeeding Helpline.

What are your favourite novels?

The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.  I read this book as a student on placement and decided while reading it that if I ever had a daughter I would name her Alba, after the little girl in the book.  My very own Alba is now 8 years old and just as independent and feisty as her namesake.

Recent books I’ve really liked are The Silence of the Girls (Pat Barker) and The Binding (Bridget Collins). I read all sorts of random stuff though, usually on the train to Manchester.

What is your favourite film?

Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  Best final scene of any movie.

What is your favourite tv show?

My favourite question of them all.  As a teenager I became the biggest fan of the 80s TV programme The A Team. Still love it. And I have a massive collection of A Team memorabilia stored in my mum’s attic that I don’t think she is very keen on me leaving there. I keep a Mr T badge in my kitchen drawer that always has (and still does) come with me for anything important – exams, interviews, driving tests. It’s my good luck charm, even though it doesn’t always bring me good luck. It came to five driving tests with me!

I also watch far too much Netflix while I’m ironing.  I have a LOT of ironing. I love sci fi programmes –Star Trek, Shadow and Bone, Stranger Things etc. Anything with vampires (I know, I’m totally sad) – I watched Discovery of Witches over the Christmas holidays which was fantastic.   Bridgerton, The Gilded Age etc are also guilty pleasures.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

I’m not the sort of person who gets excited about holidays but everyone else in my house does. My husband loves Cyprus, as do the kids, so we’ve been there a lot. Iceland (pre-children!) was also beautiful.

Hybrid proceedings in Parliament: yes please or no thanks?

Yes, definitely. But done in the right way.

Appointed or elected upper chamber?

Appointed (I was Lord Norton’s student. How could I answer anything else?!).

Restoration or Renewal?

Both.

Cat or Dog?

Cats. Always cats. We have one big fluffy one called Flower.

Fish and chips or Curry?

Depends, I love both, but if it’s curry it’s got to be veggie dhansak.

Trains, planes or automobiles?

Cars if they’re electric. Love trains. Hate flying.

Scones: Devonshire or Cornish Method?

Neither because I really don’t like cream. It’s jam only for me unless I’m feeling brave.

And, finally, a question asked by Seth, who is 9 and a half: What was your favourite subject at school and why?

Geography. I had the best geography teacher, Glenda Priestnall who made me obsessed with rivers, volcanoes, earthquakes etc and took us on fieldtrips to the coast to study the sand dunes. If I hadn’t done politics, I would have done a geography degree.