Jenny Hatchard

Jenny is a political scientist with interests in public health and environmental governance. Her research focuses on the multiple ways in which private interests seeks to influence public policy. Having worked for ten years researching fisheries governance, where collaborative, participatory governance is becoming entrenched, Jenny now works in UK tobacco research, where there is regulated separation between government and tobacco interests.

Jenny is currently investigating attempts by the tobacco industry to influence UK Government policy on packaging of tobacco products. This research has two key objectives: first, to map the political activity of tobacco corporations; and, second, to gauge the degree of influence of tobacco companies on the policy process. The work raises issues around information subsidies and evidence, political access and transparency.

Jenny retains an interest in marine environmental issues and intends to combine public health and environmental research in the future through comparative analysis of different governance models. The expression of power by private interests in the public sphere is an overarching theme in her research.