Dr Jack Newman

Dr Jack Newman
University of Manchester

jack.newman@manchester.ac.uk

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ORCiD: 0000-0003-3541-7546

Outputs

Academic papers

Blogs and short articles

Policy reports

Philosophy of social science blog

Biography

Research

I am a researcher of politics and public policy, specialising in decentralisation and place-based policy. I currently work as a Research Associate at the University of Manchester.

Broadly, I consider how place-based policymaking is affected by the structure of multi-level political systems. In simple terms: how do we move power downwards in a way that improves local policy and services?

My research includes an ongoing focus on spatial inequality: how do we decentralise in a way that benefits disadvantaged places? I am particularly interested in the unequal geographic distribution of governance, productivity, and public health.

Impact

I have worked in partnership with government departments – including MHCLG & DHSC – and leading think tanks – including the Institute for Government & Demos. Through these partnerships, I have made important additions to the national policy debate. This includes written work in blogs, media, journals, and think tank reports. And it includes spoken contributions on public panels, policy roundtables, podcasts, and government committees. This activity has led to policy impact on English devolution, local accountability, policy geographies, and public health. I am particularly interested in the active role of academics and think tanks in the policy process.

Career

I am currently working on two projects about the multi-level structure of the UK’s National Health Service: The Place Project and the Post Implementation Review of the Health and Care Act 2022. Both projects sit within the Health Organisation, Policy, & Economics research group.

Until September 2025, I was a Research Fellow at the University of Bristol. I focused on how healthy urban development can be realised through devolution and cross-government working.

Previously, I worked as a Research Associate at The Productivity Institute and the Department of Politics, University of Manchester. My research sat within the Productivity Institute’s ‘Institutions & Governance’ theme. This investigated how UK productivity is constrained by the structure of its political institutions.

Before that, I worked at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, collaborating with the Institute for Government on a review of the UK constitution.

This followed a post at the University of Surrey’s Centre for Research in Social Simulation on the LIPSIT research project, which analysed the link between local economies and the design of political institutions.

In 2019, I completed a PhD at the University of Leeds, focused on the underlying (ontological) assumptions of UK social policy and the Conservative governments of the 2010s. I also hold an MA Politics from Leeds (2014) and a BA Politics from the University of Liverpool (2010).

Methodology and critical realism

Although primarily a qualitative researcher, my research has combined elements of qualitative and quantitative methods. I have published work utilising discourse analysis, qualitative interviews, focus groups, social network analysis, and spatial statistics.

Underpinning this methodological pluralism is a critical realist approach to social science. I have published on critical realism and critical discourse analysis and the morphogenetic approach. I am an active member of the Critical Realism Network, organising the monthly Critical Realism Discussion Group.

Background and motivation

My background has motivated and informed my research on spatial inequality and decentralisation. I am proudly from Hull in East Yorkshire, where I lived the first 30 years of my life. I grew up in Hull’s former fishing neighbourhood, and was brought up in an alternative community of worker cooperatives, based around Giroscope. After a few years in London, I now live in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. My experiences have fostered a belief in the potential of decentralised solutions, and the need to redistribute political power and economic prosperity.

Outputs