Dr Ryan Swift

Research fellow

Ryan works as a research fellow at IPPR North and across the wider IPPR democracy programme.

In his work at IPPR North, Ryan researchers and writes on devolution, local democracy, ‘levelling up’, and regional identity. Ryan also contributes to wider IPPR work on democracy and politics. Recent projects have explored public perceptions of democracy and developed ideas to improve levels of democratic participation and political equality. Ryan is an experienced qualitative researcher.

Prior to joining IPPR, Ryan undertook a PhD at the University of Leeds on ‘the politics of Northernness’, examining how the north of England has been framed and politicised in recent political discourse. Before that, Ryan studied at the University of Huddersfield where he carried out research on the Labour Party and ‘the politics of Englishness’.

More from this author:

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  1. Aerial views of Manchester skyline of new skyscrapers

    Devolution that delivers: Fiscal power for regional growth

    The UK is one of the most centralised countries in the developed world, and one of the most regionally unequal.

  2. Towards a Communities Agenda 2.0

    Andy Burnham’s arrival in Downing Street creates an opportunity to go much further on the communities agenda than we’ve seen up to now. So what should more ambition look like in practice?
  3. A photograph from below of the grand Manchester town hall building on a sunny day against a blue sky

    On home ground: The future of devolution

    Andy Burnham has pledged to deliver “the biggest rebalancing of power the country has ever seen”. The key task for the new government is putting this into action.
  4. A close up photograph of a polling station sign on the outside of a building

    Reimagining lawmaking: How to rebuild trust in parliament

    People feel that politics is something that is done to them, not with them. This must change.

  5. The political trust crisis: Why local democracy must start listening again

    A troubling reality hangs over May’s local elections: trust in politics has collapsed.
  6. The outside of Rochdale town hall on a sunny day, with flowers in the foreground

    Making the most of it: Unitarisation, hyperlocal democratic renewal and community empowerment

    Local government reorganisation need not result in a weakening of democracy at the local level.