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Dr Dave McKenna

@drdavemckenna.bsky.social
335 followers 431 following 178 posts

Not that kind of a doctor.

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Reposted by Dr Dave McKenna
Ed Hammond @se13ed.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Emerging that Government will this afternoon announce plans to pause the process of English local government reorganisation pending a review. So where are councils now?
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Reposted by Dr Dave McKenna
Ben Proctor @benproctor.co.uk · 04/09/2026
Being a councillor is still a difficult career for women – why this matters for democracy theconversation.com/being-a-coun...
theconversation.com
Being a councillor is still a difficult career for women – why this matters for democracy
The fixes could be cheap and easy, though.
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Reposted by Dr Dave McKenna
INLOGOV @inlogov.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Approaching LGR, new unitary authorities should see, value and promote parish and town councillors and clerks as vital elements of local services and democracy. @catherineneedham.bsky.social and @drdavemckenna.bsky.social Local Government Chronicle www.lgcplus.com/politics/gov...
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
I did wonder if this was as straightforward forward as it was suggested on this podcast - so I'm grateful for the discussion here.
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
I wanted to broaden my reading so I've taken to picking books randomly (asking google for a random number) from the Guardian's recent '100 best novels of all time'. So far it's working and I'm reading books I definitely would not have chosen 😮 www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...
theguardian.com
The 100 best novels of all time
The top 100 novels of all time published in English, as voted for by authors, critics and academics worldwide. How many have you read?
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Reposted by Dr Dave McKenna
UCL Constitution Unit @conunitucl.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
What is parliamentary scrutiny? Our latest explainer explores how parliamentary scrutiny improves and legitimises government legislation, policy and delivery, the types of scrutiny, the impact of scrutiny, and threats to scrutiny. Read our brand new explainer 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo....
Explainer. What is parliamentary scrutiny? The Constitution Unit. Parliamentary scrutiny can both legitimise and improve government legislation, policy and delivery. Parliament can scrutinise the government through the legislative process, questions and statements, non-government debates and select committees. It would be wrong to see parliament’s scrutiny power as weak. The views of parliamentarians are often incorporated into policy.
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Have been reading more this year. And trying to read books I might not normally reach for. Anyhow, these are the ones I’ve read in the last 6 months.
Books in a pile: 
Martyr, Kaveh Akbar
The sea, the sea, Iris Murdoch
The secret history, Donna tart
Nostromo, Joseph Conrad
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Looking through the wardrobe for something to wear today…
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
In the old days, this was the tie I used to wear to work to mark special occasions. You can imagine me wearing it today if you like…
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Mornin’
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Reposted by Dr Dave McKenna
ADSO @adso-uk.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
✅ We're hiring - could you be our ADSO Lead Consultant? We’re looking for someone with energy, ideas and a collaborative spirit to help us develop & expand our consultancy offer. 📅 12 month fixed term ⏰ 2 -4 hrs per week (flexible) 💻 Remote working View our job pack 👉 ow.ly/yUFr50YSvnj
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Agree with this and I found similar issues in my PhD research. I'm not really sure what the case is for elections by third. You wouldn't want it for national elections. Or would you?
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
A couple of these made me smile. Nothing so English as the seaside windbreak, marmite and paddington bear 😊
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Reposted by Dr Dave McKenna
Hannah White @drhannahwhite.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
This really is the end of a fantastic era for @conunitucl.bsky.social - Meg Russell has led the Unit from strength to strength - brilliantly straddling the academic/practitioner landscapes - big shoes to fill (but glad to hear she will be continuing to contribute her expertise)!
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Anthony Zacharzewski @anthonyzach.be · 13/03/2026
My fact of the day is that because French communes are so small, 40% of all EU local government bodies are French communes.
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
At the @cfgs.bsky.social conference with scrutiny on the big screen 🍿🎬
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INLOGOV @inlogov.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
NALC invites parish and town councillors to shape the future of the 21st-century councillor www.nalc.gov.uk/resource/nal...
nalc.gov.uk
NALC invites parish and town councillors to shape the future of the 21st-century councillor
We are calling on parish and town councillors to take part in a major national event examining what it means to be a 21st-century councillor
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Business travel tip here. I carry a couple of those wooden forks and spoons for supermarket takeaway meals and a decaf coffee sachet.
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
My first local government job was as a housing officer working out of the Townhill estate office. I learnt a lot! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿
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Centre for Governance and Scrutiny @cfgs.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Twenty five years ago councils were implementing exec arrangements and overview and scrutiny as a result of the Local Government Act of 2000. But as @se13ed.bsky.social points out, the legislation was playing catch-up with innovative councils www.lgcplus.com/politics/gov...
Ed Hammond: Governance after 25 years of scrutiny
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LCC municipal @lccmunicipal.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Here is a fascinating document from the the late 1940s. It was produced for the County Council of the West Riding of Yorkshire by the Bureau of Current Affairs and is a digest of information and statistics about the Council. It picks up on a number of interesting themes... 🧵
The cover is bright red.  A black and white photo of a family grouped together and looking rightwards (forwards to the future?) is superimposed over a yellow outline of the West Riding of Yorkshire.  Wakefield, the County Town, is the only town marked on this map.  The heading in a black lozenge-shaped box at the top is Meet Your County Council.

Graphic design and image credits: Uncredited
Taken from: Meet Your County Council - The West Riding of Yorkshire
Published by: The Bureau of Current Affairs in association with the County Council of the West Riding of Yorkshire
Date: Undated, but appears to be c.1949
The coat of arms of the West Riding of Yorkshire on a black background.  At the top is a golden crown.  The shield as a red bar at the top with three white roses in a line.  The rest of the shield below is white with a large white rose on a representation of the sun.

Graphic design and image credits: Uncredited
Taken from: Meet Your County Council - The West Riding of Yorkshire
Published by: The Bureau of Current Affairs in association with the County Council of the West Riding of Yorkshire
Date: Undated, but appears to be c.1949Th rear cover of the book is red with a white rose in the middle.  The text, either side of the rose says "The West Riding of Yorkshire"

Graphic design and image credits: Uncredited
Taken from: Meet Your County Council - The West Riding of Yorkshire
Published by: The Bureau of Current Affairs in association with the County Council of the West Riding of Yorkshire
Date: Undated, but appears to be c.1949
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
I, for one, am a fan. More of these please 🚂
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Reposted by Dr Dave McKenna
Ed Hammond @se13ed.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
But what about Police and Crime Panels, I hear you say? (1/)
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
#politics
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
A movie you've seen more than 7 times with a gif.
media.tenor.com
a man with a beard is sitting in a car with his mouth open
ALT: a man with a beard is sitting in a car with his mouth open
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Reposted by Dr Dave McKenna
Centre for Governance and Scrutiny @cfgs.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
21st Century Councillors event - check it out! www.cfgs.org.uk/21st-century...
cfgs.org.uk
21st Century Councillors event - CfGS
We’re excited to share news of a free 21st Century Councillor event taking place in Andover on 4 November – giving councillors and officers the chance to discuss how elected members can adapt, lead…
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Reposted by Dr Dave McKenna
Ben Proctor @benproctor.co.uk · 19/10/2025
Great project. Lovely that this article acknowledges the work in this space already done by @mapio.cymru and others
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Reposted by Dr Dave McKenna
Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
I've seen a couple of polls recently showing that public sector workers - or as Matt Goodwin has it, the new elite - have very different social attitudes to the rest of us. To which I say meh. Of course they do, and we should be very glad of it.
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
I’m at the National Tenant Scrutiny Conference. @louisemholt.bsky.social is doing the intro 💃🕺 #tpasconf25
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
I've discovered a new non-extreme, slow-sport that involves hunting down Ordnance Survey Benchmarks. It's like a laid back Pokémon Go I guess. I case you don't know, OSBs are marks or plates placed on buildings, walls etc to show the elevation above sea level. They often look like this...
A horizontal line carved into a wall with three lines fanning out downwards from its centre.
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Hello, today I'm heading to Belfast for the UKAPA conference tomorrow - all things public administration with a nice academic / practitioner mix. Do say hello if you are going. www.ukapa.org.uk/conference/u... #ukapa25 @ukapa-1918.bsky.social
ukapa.org.uk
UKAPA 2025 Conference
UKAPA annual conference Ulster University~ Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK Thursday 11 – Friday 12 September 2025 (& Doctoral Conference, Wednesday 10 September 2025)
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Reposted by Dr Dave McKenna
Ed Hammond @se13ed.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
"Questions at council" is something which has come up a few times recently in bits of work we've done for councils in England. Some thoughts... (1/)
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Centre for Governance and Scrutiny @cfgs.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Check out our featured case study of transition from committee to cabinet governance model, with a bountiful basket of top tips from #BrightonHoveCouncil. Essential reading for others looking to do this as it's packed with learning. #GovernanceChange #LocalGovScrutiny #ResidentFocused
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Citizen Participation @oliverescobar.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
🤔 What's the point of democratic innovation? Can it address crurrent crises and build democracies for the future? 💡In this new article @adrianbua.bsky.social and I argue that the field needs to strengthen its change-making orientation and capacity. Open access 👉🏼 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Democratic innovation for change: A participatory corrective to deliberative hegemony - Oliver Escobar, Adrian Bua, 2025
The world faces social, political, economic, and ecological crises, and there is doubt that democratic governance can cope. Democracies rely on a narrow set of ...
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New Local @wearenewlocal.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
“There is an emerging opportunity for councils to reimagine how democracy can be done better”. Our Principal Practice Lead Liin Nur explains our ambitions for Waves – the biggest trial of digital democracy in the UK – and the solid foundations that the programme is built upon.
buff.ly
A digital approach to reimagining democracy    - New Local
Last month, New Local announced its partnership with Demos on Waves – the largest trial of digital democracy in Britain to date. The Waves project aims to create a digital democratic process that can…
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Reposted by Dr Dave McKenna
INLOGOV @inlogov.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
Looking forward to day 3 of #LGAConf25 - pop along to stand A24 to chat about our latest research, last chance entry to the levy-funded Senior Leader programme, and our policy proposals on citizen engagement. And pick up a 21C councillor coaster!
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Do love a train thread 🚂
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Ben Proctor @benproctor.co.uk · 16/06/2025
Here's my weekly roundup of nonprofit data jobs. Subscribers received this yesterday buttondown.com/likeaword/ar...
buttondown.com
Nonprofit data jobs 2025-06-13
Vacancies at Cancer Research, Shelter, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and Good Law Project amongst many others.
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Professor Peter Matthews @urbaneprofessor.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Fancy working with me? Want to do messy, community-led research with communities in Clackmannanshire? Then do I have the job for you! www.stir.ac.uk/about/work-a...
stir.ac.uk
Vacancy details | About | University of Stirling
Job vacancy at the University of Stirling.
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Reposted by Dr Dave McKenna
Julia Cushion @juliacushion.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
Great to hear from the fantastic @joe-mitchell.com at the @publicinterestnews.org.uk launch of their 2025 Survey of independent news providers 🗞️🗞️ 2024 was a big year for democracy and great to hear that the public interest news sector felt they had a big social impact!
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Ed Hammond @se13ed.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
councils should have their headquarters buildings in town centres, not in business parks miles from the nearest railway station - this is not me making a sociopolitical point but practical annoyance as someone who can't drive and who has to visit council HQs a lot
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Matt Clack @mattclack.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Ian Thomas kicks off #StrongerThings, pointing out that the phrase "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" was coined by Benjamin Franklin in *1736*. So we've known it for a while...
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
By the way, is it 'AI' or 'A.I.'? I mean, A.I. seems clunky, but AI is a three toed sloth* *very hand towards the end of a game of scrabble
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Centre for Governance and Scrutiny @cfgs.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Our deputy chief exec @se13ed.bsky.social says it's time to rethink governance and scrutiny for mayoral authorities, given their increasing power - and because of how they'll use that power:
lgcplus.com
Ed Hammond: Rethinking combined authority scrutiny
The convening power of mayors means we need to rethink governance and scrutiny in their areas, write...
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Phil Rumens @rumens.uk · 13/05/2025
I was delighted to be able to able to give evidence in Parliament today to the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee's inquiry on the Digital centre of government. I hope I represented #localgov #digital well. You can watch and make your own mind up here: parliamentlive.tv/event/index/...
Phil Rumens and Cllr Sunita Gordon
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
Here is a something I wrote about different approaches to in-person and virtual scrutiny committee meetings. #niche www.linkedin.com/posts/mckenn...
linkedin.com
On the topic of in-person vs virtual committee meetings, here are the… | Dave Mckenna
On the topic of in-person vs virtual committee meetings, here are the views of four scrutiny chairs. Who do you think is correct? Councillor Ali - ‘In-person only’ “In-person is so much better for d...
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
I enjoyed Conclave. Not least because the plot revolves around a voting system.
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Phil Rumens @rumens.uk · 01/05/2025
Good luck to all my #localgov colleagues across England who are working today, tonight, and tomorrow on local elections.
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Dr Dave McKenna @drdavemckenna.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Hard to process this 😔
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