Mark Bennister

Dr Mark Bennister is an experienced academic researcher focusing on comparative political leadership, prime ministerial power, governance, and accountability in parliament.

Mark was Associate Professor of Politics at the University of Lincoln in the School of Social and Political Sciences and Reader at Canterbury Christ Church University. He was the founder Director of the Lincoln Policy Hub and the Lincoln Parliamentary Research Centre (ParliLinc). Mark was a House of Commons Academic Fellow (2016-19), researching the Prime Minister’s appearances before the Liaison Committee. Mark has a practitioner background as Executive Officer at the Australian High Commission in London and as a parliamentary researcher. In addition to his role as a Visiting Reader at the Mile End Institute, Queen Mary, University of London, he is also a Visiting Research Affiliate at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of Cambridge.

Mark is an expert in comparative prime ministerial leadership. He published 'Prime Ministers in Power: A Comparative Study of Political Leadership in Britain and Australia' in March 2012 and 'The Leadership Capital Index' in 2017. Mark gained his doctorate from the University of Sussex (2004-2008), where he was awarded a 1+3 ESRC studentship. Mark has an MSc in Social Research (Sussex 2005), MA in Contemporary European Studies (Loughborough 1993), and BA Hons in Social Sciences (Nottingham Trent University 1990).