Abigail Taylor – The Conversation

Steve Hawkins Photography

July 31, 2026

Britain’s quarter century: wealth and widening inequality

Abigail Taylor, University of Birmingham; John Colley, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick; Kenneth Gibb, University of Glasgow; Mike Savage, London School of Economics and Political Science, and Steve Schifferes, City St George's, University of London

How finances and the economy have changed over 25 years.

Sonicpuss/Shutterstock

October 7, 2025

Can Labour’s plan to fund deprived communities see off Reform? What the evidence shows

Abigail Taylor, University of Birmingham; Alice Pugh, University of Birmingham, and Jason Lowther, University of Birmingham

Many of the planned improvements are largely cosmetic.

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove addresses the Convention of the North in Leeds in March 2024. PA Images|Alamy

March 15, 2024

Levelling up is not working as promised – our research shows why

Abigail Taylor, University of Birmingham; Anne Green, University of Birmingham, and Hannes Read, University of Birmingham

English councils have neither the ongoing funding or the staffing needed to effectively deliver on the government’s economic development promises.

UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Sean Aidan Calderbank

November 22, 2023

Autumn statement: as it happened

Pauline McCallion, The Conversation

Live blog: all the announcements from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and instant reaction from experts.

Economically inactive people – those neither working nor actively seeking jobs – could help tackle UK labour shortages. 1000 Words/Shutterstock

May 12, 2023

How better local employment support could help tackle UK labour shortages

Abigail Taylor, University of Birmingham and Ceri Hughes, University of Manchester

People who are out of work for reasons such as long-term ill-health are often not well served by national employment support.

Ilyas Tayfun Salci / Shutterstock

February 4, 2022

Other countries have made progress in levelling up – here’s how the UK’s plan compares

Abigail Taylor, University of Birmingham

We looked at the factors that led to levelling up success in Europe, Japan and the US.

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