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About Me
I’m aged 51 and was first elected to Ribble Valley Borough Council in 2011. I have extensive
Committee experience having served on the important Policy & Finance Committee, most
recently as Chairman of the Licensing Committee, as Deputy Chairman of the Personnel
Committee & Accounts & Audit Committee and also on the Planning & Development;
Community Services; Licensing and Parish Liaison Committees.
I continue to play an active role on the management teams of Ribble Valley Conservative
Association as Deputy Chairman (Political) since 2018 and Chairman of the Policy Forum
between 2017-19. I am also Web Master, Data Coordinator and Press and Social Media Officer
for the Association.
In the parliamentary elections of 2015 and 2017 I was a Campaign Manager in the Hyndburn
Constituency responsible for all aspects of On-line Campaigning Web-Sire Development &
Maintenance, Content Marketing & Messaging, Social Media Activity: Twitter, Facebook & Party
Web-Sires, On-line Campaign Measurement, Tracking & Analytics, On-line Leaflet Design, Image
Sourcing & Manipulation, On-line Data Manipulation of Voter Metrics & Socio-Demographic
Profiling using Vote Source - the Conservative Party Electoral Databaset.
In 2017 he Conservative Vote in Hyndburn increased by 4,629 to 18,305 from 13,676 in 2015 an
increase 8.6% from 31.9% to 40.5%. This was just 1,405 Votes less than the 19,405 Votes
achieved by Ken Hargreaves when he first won the seat in 1983 - only 1.7% less than the 42.2%
he achieved. Hyndburn was in the top 33 Seats in England - 7.86% - for % improved
Conservative Vote share and second for % improved Conservative Vote Share in Lancashire.
I have gained significant campaign experience and can confidently utilise social media, website
management, competent in leaflet development and production.
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Conservative Voice
Working with allied organizations – such as conservativehome.com – to help the Conservative Party and
its candidates to sharpen up election campaigning through practical help with media relations, social
media and local organization, to help nurture and spread best practice campaigning in wards,
constituencies and regions under the Conservative banner
Providing a home, and a new voice, for Conservatives at the grassroots – that connects with the needs,
and reflects the aspirations, of voters
Policy development and promotion that contributes to the Conservative Party’s next General
Election manifesto and beyond, working with the leadership, CCHQ, allied think thanks and party
affiliates, academics, business people and those in the third and public sectors who share that vision.
Supporting aspiring MPs and Councillors and encouraging local activists with a wider range of
experience from outside of politics to lend their time for campaigning;
Assisting aspiring MPs and Councillors with their online and social media presence
Creating a forum for ideas and debates, featuring key figures within the Conservative Party
Work with Peers, MPs, MEPs, Councillors and Conservative Party activists to promote the best of new
Conservative ideas from a wider range of experience than the Westminster village, to help shape
Conservative Party manifesto policies
“What didn’t Emily Know? : White Van Man Culture, Middle Class Condescension, Moral Panics: the
importance of White Van Man Drivers to the Economic Recovery and defeating UKIP” – Conservative
Voice – November 2014 http://www.slideshare.net/CllrMirfin/white-van-man-culture
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Publications 2
“Political arrogance: A Paper” - October 2017
https://www.slideshare.net/CllrMirfin/political-arrogance
“Political Inertia” - November 2017
https://www.slideshare.net/CllrMirfin/political-inertia
“Political Hypocrisy: Magical Realism and the Death of the Political Actor” - August 2018
https://www.slideshare.net/CllrMirfin/political-hypocrisy
The Growth Aspiration Achievement Gap – December 2015
http://www.slideshare.net/CllrMirfin/the-growth-aspiration-achievement-gap
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Publications 3
My most recently published Paper is entitled “Political Hypocrisy: Magical Realism and the Death of the
Political Actor”. This is a Paper which discusses the concept of Political Hypocrisy from a number of
different perspectives including that of magical realism for the first time. It focuses on approaches taken
by David Runciman: Political Hypocrisy: The Mask of Power, from Hobbes to Orwell and Beyond, John
Mearsheimer: Why Leaders Lie:The Truth About Lying in International Politics, Peter Oborne: The Rise of
Political Lying, Michel Foucault: Truth and Power, Colin Crouch: Post-democracy, Martin Jay: The Virtues
of Mendacity: On Lying in Politics, Sophia Rosenfeld: Hypocrisy in American Political Attitudes.
Another of my recently published papers is entitled: “Political Inertia”. This is a paper which analyses the
concept of Political Inertia from a number of different theoretical perspectives including Adversarial
Politics, Consensus Politics, Failure to Deliver Economic Growth, Sequencing of Political Democracy,
Social Acceleration, M|ixed Economy Models, Path Dependency, the Winner-Takes-All-Politics thesis,
Political Drift, the Political Science of Lobbying, the Off-Center Republican Revolution Thesis, the
Captured Economy Model and Economic Rent Seeking and the Decline of Nations Thesis and the Logic
of Collective Action.
Another recently published paper is entitled: “Political Arrogance”. This is a Paper which discusses the
concept of Political Arrogance. It seeks to do this by reference to the UK context. It focuses on the notion
of political immaturity and political arrogance as a block against political change. It focuses on the gap
between belief systems and emergent political reality – and the notion of an Outmoded Worldview. It
looks both at those Prime Ministers that have been behind the curve of history and those that have
sought to pre-empt it. It uses as a case study example the 2017 General Election before showing that
political arrogance is a mark both of strength and weakness when utilised in different circumstances. It
then goes on to discuss how political arrogance can morph into hubris. It concludes that a gap has
opened up between mass and elite publics because of politically arrogant behaviour arguing that this is
likely to result in political instability which is only likely to be resolved by a large scale replacement of the
political elites.
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Publications 4
Yet another recently published paper is entitled: ”Political Authenticity: Villains or the Virtuous” which
has received some media attention. The paper presents a wide-ranging analysis of the concept of
Political Authenticity. It focuses on the concept of charismatic authority. It seeks to differentiate between
true and false political authenticity and agues that it has become a media construct, a P.R. tool to enable
politicians to scale the heights of power. It further argues that charismatic leaders espousing political
authenticity are part of the counter elite who have emerged from the political establishment at times of
political crisis.
I have also recently published a paper entitled “The Death of Aspiration: The End of Work and the
Emergent Culture of Middle Class Discontent”. This is a paper which addresses the issue of how middle
class aspirations are being thwarted by the impact of technology (automation) on work. It draws on the
work of Edward Luttwak (Turbo Capitalism), Jeremy Rifkin (the End of Work thesis); John Kenneth
Galbraith (the Culture of Contentment) and Robert D. Putnam (Social Capital). It address the central
paradox that the middle classes are being attracted to anti-status quo populist political movements at
one and the same time as favouring status quo communitarian politics. It concludes by arguing that the
nature of politics and political parties will change fundamentally with the emergence of a new form of
factionalised based caucus politics which will be much more localised in nature. It suggests that this will
lead to tensions within sub-regional Combined Authorities in the UK.
The paper was highly referenced in the U.S. media during the U.S. Presidential Election. I was
interviewed by Fox News, the Washington Post and the Chicago Sun Tribune.
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Publications 5
I have recently published a Policy Paper for Conservative Voice entitled: “What didn’t Emily Know? :
White Van Man Culture, Middle Class Condescension, Moral Panics: the importance of White Van Man
Drivers to the Economic Recovery and defeating UKIP” which was commissioned by Conservative Voice
and addresses the issue of the Political Disenfranchisement of Globalisation amongst the victims of
Globalisation – the disadvantaged and insecure working and middle classes in the context of the Revolt
on the Right and Blue Labour theses amongst others.
I have won 2 International Recognition Awards for the Paper which was the most mentioned Politics
paper on Twitter in the Month that it that it was published and the most viewed Politics Paper on
Slideshare Globally in the three months following its Publication. The Paper is the most viewed and
Downloaded Policy Paper authored by a member of the British Conservative Party in 2014 and also in the
first half of 2015. The Paper has been viewed and downloaded approaching 10,000 times across a variety
of media.
I have also recently published a high profile Policy paper for Conservative Voice entitled: “A High Wire
Balancing Act – Reshuffles, Reform, Modernization and Policy Making in the Coalition: UKIP & Cameron’s
Attempt to Overcome the Limitations of Electoral Groupthink. A Paper commissioned by Conservative
Voice on the Cabinet Reshuffle of July 2014 which looks at the Electoral & Socio-Demographics behind
the Reshuffle, the continuing impact of UKIP and the Constraints on Reform, Modernization & Policy
Making in the Coalition Government and the forces that have shaped David Cameron's behaviour as a
Prime Minister. It has been viewed and downloaded approaching 7,000 occasions across a variety of
media.
I have recently published a high profile paper on the Oldham West & Royton By-Election which was the
most widely downloaded paper during the course of the by-election which was used extensively as a
reference by national journalists from The Financial Times as well as The Guardian.
The paper has been downloaded over 5,000 times across all media.
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Publications 6
I have recently been contributing Business Economist for the Peel Policy Forum - the North West's only
Centre Right Think Tank. I published a high profile Policy Paper commissioned by Rejuvenate Your
Business on behalf of projectEV (Enterprise Village) entitled: "Supporting High Growth Companies: It's A
Life-Stage Issue Not A Journey to Shangri-La"
It has been downloaded over 5,000 times.
A Second Paper entitled: "Are "We" all Working Class Now? : The Rise of the New White Collar Working
Class"
It has been downloaded over 2,000 times. The Paper was featured as the Lead Article on the Conservative
Home Web-Site
http://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2013/11/from-northerntory-are-we-all-working-class-now.html
A Third Paper followed entitled: "Apprenticeships in SMEs: The Key Debates" followed and received a
large amount of attention from the Lobbying Group Apprentices4England who host a number of high
profile conferences.
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University Politics Lecturer
I am a former academic with 7 years Teaching and Lecturing experience in Higher Education at the
Universities of Hull, Wolverhampton & Coventry
I have extensive experience of teaching Comparative Politics, International Relations and International
History across Years 1 to 3 and up to and including Masters Level.
Lecturer in International Studies: Coventry University
I taught a no. of International Relations (Level 1: The International System); International History (Level 1:
World Politics Since 1945) and Foreign Policy (Level 2: Foreign Policy Analysis) Modules
Lecturer in European Studies (Politics and International Relations) University of Wolverhampton
I taught on a no. of EU Politics, Policies and Institutions, East European Politics and British Politics
Modules.
I also taught on a no. of International Relations, International History, East European Politics and Foreign
Policy and War Studies Modules.
I was also responsible for the creation of the majority of the syllabus for two Year 2 British Politics
modules The Making of Modern Britain and Issues and Controversies in Modern Britain. As part of a
TEMPUS University Teaching,Training and Observation visit from the Bulgarian Universities of Varna,
Russe and Sofia in Bulgaria where the two modules went on to be taught.
Lecturer in Politics: University of Hull
I taught on a no. of Comparative Politics Modules:
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10. 12
Chief Data Officer – Business Link North West 1
I recently led a Team which built the Rapid Response Framework initiated by the North West
Development Agency to deliver Support and Funding to Businesses struggling as a consequence of the
economic downturn. As Chief Data Officer at Business Link Northwest - a data driven evidence-based
business economics role I was the Architect of the Business Performance Index (BPI) and its
contribution to the development of the Northwest Development Agency's (NWDA) "Rapid Response
Framework".
The BPI: the heart of a Shared Intelligence Network, accessible by Public Sector Business Support
Agencies allowed the NWDA and BLNW to closely monitor and report on the ongoing impact of the
economic recession on Businesses at both an aggregate level across industry sectors and administrative
and political geographical boundaries.The BPI was the first Business to Business Commercial Risk
Profiling Tool available within the Public Sector and offered the NWDA real-time intelligence to support
efforts to address market failure. The BPI was commended at the national "Data Strategy" awards for
"Best use of Data in the Public Sector" The BPI allowed the NWDA and BLNW to make definitive
pronouncements about the effectiveness of its Services Delivery to the North West Business Community
including Membership and Cluster Organizations, Local Councils, Politicians and Opinion Leaders
Provision of relevant and up-to-date information on emerging business trends meanwhile has allowed the
NWDA to service requests from Government, Political Parties and Lobbying Organizations.
The BPI was the first Business to Business Commercial Risk Profiling Tool available within the Public
Sector and offered the NWDA real-time intelligence to support efforts to address market failure.
BLNW worked with a no. of Business Support Agencies at SRP, Local Authority and below. It was able to
use its BPI Data to support a range of Joint Projects beginning with the majority of Local Councils. I
played an integral role in developing these Key Relationships and developing Data Communities of
Practice working with a number of Senior Politicians and Governmental Officials upto and including the
Cabinet Office, the Prime Ministers Development Unit and the Office of the Minister of State at BIS (Shriti
Vadera).
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Chief Data Officer – Business Link North West 2
As Chief Data Officer I built an extensive network across Public Sector Bodies, within Academia and
within Research Bodies and Think Tanks across Government and with a large number of Politicians
across all Parties at Councillor and MP level. BLNW also serviced a high no. of requests for Complex
Data Analytics from Business Support Agencies at different levels within the political administrative
geography of the North West. Again I played a key role in developing the systems and processes for the
delivery of Key pieces of Economic Analysis writing and authoring a considerable number myself.
This capability has ensured that bodies that were "blind" to the impact of the recession on the Business
Community were able to accurately contextualize their own Business Support activity on the ground
against a robust evidence base testing and measuring the impact of their Business Support Policy
Criteria.
I have vast experience in writing a range of communications and PR pieces I have extensive experience
of writing and placing material authored on behalf of journalists in the National Press including Front
Pages in the Daily Express and Daily Mail and Articles in the Times, Guardian and Independent based on
findings from data projects I have led or been involved in.
Perhaps the strongest example of a such a Project is the “We’re Backing Business” campaign which
BLNW launched in conjunction with the Lancashire Telegraph.
The Lancashire Telegraph campaign to support businesses allowed BLNW to enhance its Market
Reputation through a series of Thought Leadership Campaigns Delivered through PR & On-Line
Communications. This allowed BLNW to Evolve a Strong Local Brand Identity focussed on Issues and
Themes specific to North West Businesses. Critical in achieving this was building Brand Association
with Other High Visibility Premium Brands.
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Chief Data Officer – Business Link North West 3
The United We Stand Campaign was the first instance of a Regional Press Group working in conjunction
with the Business Link Network to promote its service offering. Indeed for the first time there was implicit
trust in the message that BLNW was promoting and unquestioning acceptance of the figures that were
being stated about the health of the Sub-Regional Economy in Lancashire. This allowed BLNW to
position itself as the trusted
authority on the subject. Using extremely enticing hooks BLNW was able to build awareness of its
message using data in an extremely granular context not possible previously.
The campaign and its impact, the only instance of such a campaign to be recorded in the UK thus far has
won praise from far and wide, including David Cameron, then Leader of the Opposition who said, “It’s a
great idea.” "We all have a responsibility to the community at a time of recession and newspapers have a
great responsibility, which you are showing, to try and help businesses get all the help they need. “I wish
your campaign well and I hope the businesses respond and that they can help us trade out of this difficult
recession.”
The result is that BLNW was able to Build Strong and Enduring Customer Advocacy born out by the
highest levels of Customer Satisfaction for any Business Link Network in the UK by Building Stakeholder
Advocacy Networks. Quite Simply we were able to Nudge the Change Architects (Thaler & Sunnstein) and
Be Confident in the expansive capabilities of B2B Mood Contagion.
