Professor David Judge is Professor Emeritus of Politics at the University of Strathclyde. He is the author of The Parliamentary State (SAGE).

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

I had no great plans to become an academic. My career progression was often down to happenstance. The first chance occurrence was the decision taken by my history teacher, in my last year at school, to trial a one-year A-level politics class (then entitled British Constitution). This led me to study politics at undergraduate level at Exeter, which was chosen for no other reason than its geographical location. From there I went on to do my PhD at Sheffield on the basis of fortuitous circumstances leading to the award of an SSRC (precursor of the ESRC) grant. My first academic job followed two years later when I was appointed as a lecturer at a Scottish Central Institution in Paisley (now part of The University of the West of Scotland). Only a series of chance events and serendipitous timings within a very short period led to my move to Scotland. After 14 years at Paisley, again by chance and unforeseen, I was offered a job seven miles down the road at Strathclyde in Glasgow.

All of this might appear to be a seamless progression, driven by chance and luck, but I wouldn’t have had an academic career or become a professor had it not been for the decisive interventions of several people.

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

A. H. Birch, Representative and Responsible Government.

C. B. Macpherson, The Life and Times of Liberal Democracy.

Ralph Miliband, Capitalist Democracy in Britain.

Hanna Pitkin, The Concept of Representation.

Jeremy Richardson and Grant Jordan, Governing Under Pressure.

Which people have been most influential and important to you in your academic career?

Without turning this into something resembling an Oscar Awards acceptance speech, I have to acknowledge upfront the influence of two remarkably influential women in my life. The first was my mother: she knew the value of education long before I did. The other is my wife: she knows the importance of life beyond the world of academia.

Within the world of academia three mentors offered pivotal support and direction at crucial stages of my career. The first was Michael Rush at Exeter who led me to take parliament seriously as an institution and was instrumental in facilitating the start of my PhD studies. The second was Stuart Walkland at Sheffield, who, as my PhD supervisor, provided me with the freedom to follow my own ideas along paths he wouldn’t have followed himself. The third was Jeremy Richardson at Strathclyde who offered me a job at a ‘critical juncture’ in my career, and who was instrumental in my career progression thereafter. There have been a host of other people with whom I’ve collaborated over the years and who have been important in enabling me to co-produce publications in areas well beyond parliamentary studies, such as The Politics of Industrial Closure, A Green Dimension for the European Community, and Theories of Urban Politics. In particular,David Earnshaw (who has a ‘proper job’ in Brussels) was a brilliant co-conspirator and co-author for nearly 20 years on matters concerning the European Parliament; and, since my ‘retirement’, working with Cristina Leston-Bandeira has been both a productive and pleasurable experience in grappling with fundamental issues concerning ‘institutional representation’ and ‘why legislatures matter’.

Which of your own pieces of research are you most proud of?

Proud isn’t the right word, but the books I most wanted to write – for my own satisfaction if for no-one else’s – were The Parliamentary State (Sage, 1993) and Democratic Incongruities (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

What has been your greatest achievement in academia?

Not getting sacked. Fortunately, senior managers at Strathclyde showed remarkable forbearance when I felt obliged, on many occasions as the Head of the Department of Government, ‘to speak truth to power’.

What has been your greatest disappointment in academia?

Not getting sacked.

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

The first thing: many political scientists don’t take parliaments seriously; and most members of the public don’t hold parliaments in high regard.

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

I was born in Jessop Hospital in Sheffield. I grew up on a Sheffield council estate and went to a comprehensive school (at a time when only 7 per cent of children in England went to such schools). My dad was unapologetically working class. My mother was equally unapologetic in her belief that her kids should, through the force of education, not remain working class.

So, although now objectively middle class by profession, I still retain something resembling a Sheffield accent and still cling to memories of my working-class roots. The authorities in Sheffield, however, have tried to expunge any record of my time in Sheffield: Jessop Hospital has been demolished, the primary school I attended has been demolished, and the buildings on both campuses of my secondary school have also been demolished!

What was your first job?

My first job, as a teenager, was selling football programmes at Bramall Lane, home of Sheffield United. I then used the earnings from Bramall Lane to fund my entry into Hillsborough, home of Sheffield Wednesday, to watch ‘my’ team.

What was the toughest job you ever had?

When I was a student, I worked as a hospital porter during five successive summer vacations. Witnessing the life-affirming and life-changing work of those in the NHS, and the vagaries and vicissitudes of life for those suffering long-term ill-health or sudden medical emergencies, provided a touchstone for my future career: my job was never going to be as tough as those performed daily by hospital staff.

What are your favourite novels?

The ‘Jackson Lamb Thrillers’ by Mick Herron. These are brilliant, and just happen to be the most recent novels I have read (so I can actually remember their plots and characters!).

What is your favourite music?

I tend to listen to music when I’m driving, so it depends on what I have on CarPlay. At the moment it’s a weird mix of Bon Iver, Elbow, Eric Clapton, John Martyn, Joni Mitchell, The Killers, Kings of Leon, Michael Kiwanuka, Willie Nelson, and, OK I admit it, ABBA.

What are your favourite artists?

Nancy Ortenston’s New Mexico Music. A large print of this features in our living room – so, I see it every day.

What is your favourite film?

The Last Picture Show. I’m a sucker for American black and white movies set in 1950s Texas.

What is your favourite building?

According to the many photos of these buildings on my phone I have two favourites. The first, for its exterior, is the Sydney Opera House. The second, for its interior, is the Santuário Dom Bosco, in Brasília.

What is your favourite tv show?

All-time favourite: The West Wing. Recent favourite: Better Call Saul.

What is your favourite sport?

Competitive biscuit eating. I reached Olympic qualifying standard during lockdown.

Boothroyd or Bercow?

Bercow: largely for his commitment to the Parliamentary Studies modules now on offer at 24 universities in the UK.

Restoration or Renewal?

Probably both, but at the present rate of ‘reviewing’ and ‘delivering’ it might end up as simply a case of ‘Deterioration’.

Cat or Dog?

Neither: Guinea Pigs (I became a default carer for my kids’ guinea pigs).

Fish and chips or Curry?

Fish and Chips

Planes, trains or automobiles?

Automobiles: my preferred mode of transport for listening to music.

Scones: Devonshire or Cornish Method?

As I spent three years as a student in Exeter it has to be Devonshire.

And, finally, a question asked by 8-year-old Seth: Would you prefer to be able to smell colours, or touch noises?

Great question Seth. This is the kind of question that will keep me awake at night trying to fathom out an answer. If an answer does come to me at 3.00 am, don’t worry Seth, I’ll phone you straight away!