Lawrence McKay

Dr. Lawrence McKay is a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow based in the Department of Politics and International Relations (PAIR). His work focuses on geographic divides (especially urban-rural and economic disparities) and their relationship to political attitudes, above all political trust. Using secondary data and original surveys, his work highlights divides in trust between urban and rural areas and a perception of bias towards urban centres. He has published in journals on the topics of why economically ‘left-behind’ communities distrust government, the thorny politics of PM Boris Johnson's "levelling-up" agenda, and how urban-rural divides in political trust vary across the globe. His British Academy project (2022-5) will draw together existing and original data from surveys and elections to produce a picture of Europe's evolving urban-rural political divisions.

As well as political geography, he is interested in the politics of trust, in British and European Politics, and the politics of Covid-19. He has also written for prominent media outlets, such as the Guardian, and has co-authored reports for UK In A Changing Europe and the Hansard Society.