Dr Peter Kerr's research interest lies broadly in understanding the impact of state projects on the development of British politics. His recent work has focussed on examining the relationship between processes of politicisation and de-politicisation within the broader context of neo-liberalism in the UK. Relatedly, his work also focusses on party change and modernisation. To date, this has mainly focussed on Conservative party modernisation, though Peter has also written recently about the politics of Corbynism. He has also published work on governmental discourses around Brexit and the management of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In previous work Peter has attempted to critically interrogate some of the dominant assumptions that underpin postwar British political history, including a critical focus on the idea of the postwar consensus and the broader impact of Thatcherism.
Peter is also co-founder of the Palgrave journal, British Politics, which he co-edited from 2005 – 2020. He is currently part of the journal’s senior editorial team.