We are delighted to announce Will Jennings, Lawrence McKay and Gerry Stoker worthy winners of the annual Bernard Crick Prize for Best Article 2021 for ‘The Politics of Levelling up’ (92 2, pp. 302 – 311).
The Digested Read of the winning article is also available online.
Professor Gerry Stoker writes: “The recognition that comes from winning The Bernard Crick Prize for Best Article in PQ encourages us to keeping going with exploring how British politics is changing. It also makes us proud given past winners and also its association with Bernard, a truly great thinker about politics and its complexities.”
The University of Southampton team summed up their prize-winning article: “Our politics is changing, and realignment options are being explored as political parties try to find new ways to attract disenchanted voters in the context of a long period of low growth and political turmoil. Levelling up provides one example of this process of ideological positioning. But we argue it also reflects a tendency of political elites to focus on symbolic politics, rather than on the business of governing. This triumph of rhetoric over substance is one of the greatest blights confronting voters now and for the future.”
The criteria from judge Professor Andrew Gamble were as follows:
- The Orwell test: Was the article written in good, clear English?
- The scholarship test: Was its knowledge base sound and well grounded?
- The Alzheimer test: Could I remember its contents clearly several days after reading it?
- The durability test: Is it likely to be read some years later, or was it just good current comment?
- The originality test: Did it have something distinctly new to say?
- The Crick test: Would Bernard have appreciated it? (that doesn’t mean he would necessarily have agreed with it).
The prize was given at the Orwell Awards on 14 July at Conway Hall, London. You can read the full article and the blog.