Robert Waller (pundit)

Robert Waller (born September 1955) is a British election expert, author, teacher, and former opinion pollster. His best known published work is The Almanac of British Politics^[1] (8 editions, 1983–2007), a guide to the voting patterns of all United Kingdom parliamentary constituencies.

Education and Career

Waller was born at Stoke-on-Trent, and educated first at Buxton College in Derbyshire, and then at the University of Oxford. In 1977, he earned a BA in History from Balliol College,^[2] and in 1981, graduated from Merton College^[3] with an MA and Ph.D in History. His doctoral thesis, a historical study of the Dukeries district of Nottinghamshire, was published by Oxford University Press in 1983 under the title The Dukeries Transformed.^[4] He was a Fellow of Magdalen College from 1980 to 1984.^[5]

From 1984 to 1986, Waller was a lecturer and tutor in Politics and History at the University of Oxford, as well as an assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame. In 1986, he became the research director of the Harris Research Centre, responsible for national opinion polling. He remained in this position until 1998, when he took up secondary school teaching. He has since taught at Brighton College, Dame Alice Harpur School in Bedford, and Haileybury in Hertford. In 2001 he was made head of History and Politics at the Greenacre School for Girls in Banstead, Surrey.^[6]

From 2008 until the 2010 general election, Waller contributed a monthly column to Totally Politics magazine.^[7]

Bibliography

• The Dukeries Transformed. 1983. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-821896-6.
• The Almanac of British Politics.
  • April 1983 (Croom Helm) ISBN 0-7099-2767-3
  • October 1983 (Croom Helm) ISBN 0-7099-2789-4
  • 1987 (Croom Helm) ISBN 0-7099-2798-3
  • 1991 (Routledge) ISBN 0-415-00508-6
  • 1995 (Routledge) ISBN 0-415-11805-0
  • 1999 (Routledge) ISBN 0-415-18541-6
  • 2002 (Routledge) ISBN 0-415-26834-6
  • 2007 (Routledge) ISBN 978-0-415-37823-9
• The Atlas of British Politics (1985). Croom Helm. ISBN 0-7099-3609-5.
• Moulding Political Opinion (with Ken Livingstone and Sir Geoffrey Finsberg 1988). Croom Helm. ISBN 0-7099-5230-9.
• What if the SDP-Liberal Alliance had finished second in the 1983 general election in Duncan Brack and Iain Dale (eds) Prime Minister Portillo and other things that never happened. (2003, paperback 2004). Politico's Publishing. ISBN 1-84275-111-5
• What if the 1903 Gladstone - MacDonald Pact had never happened in Duncan Brack (ed) President Gore ... and other things that never happened (2006). Politico's Publishing. ISBN 1-84275-172-7
• What if proportional representation had been introduced in 1918 in Duncan Brack and Iain Dale eds. Prime Minister Boris .. and other things that never happened (2011). Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84954-100-8
• 2015 General Election (with Iain Dale, Greg Callus and Daniel Hamilton) (2014). Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84954-719-2.
• The Politico's Guide to the New House of Commons 2015 (with Tim Carr and Iain Dale 2015). Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84954-923-3.
• What if Lyndon Johnson had been shot down in 1942 in Duncan Brack and Iain Dale eds. Prime Minister Corbyn ... and other things that never happened (2016). Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78590-045-7

References

1. Glover, Julian (1 August 2002). "Redrawing the map". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
2. The Balliol College Register 7th edition; Balliol College 2005.
3. Merton College Register II; Merton College 1990.
4. Waller, Robert J. (1983). The Dukeries Transformed: The Social and Political Development of a Twentieth-century Coalfield. Oxford Historical Monographs. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-821896-6.
5. Magdalen College Register, 9th issue; Magdalen College 1997.
6. "Greenacre School staff list" (PDF). Retrieved 9 August 2012.
7. Mackinlay, Sarah (24 November 2008). "From the editor". Total Politics. Retrieved 5 June 2011.