iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Cristina Leston-Bandeira @estrangeirada.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

I don't usually post personal stuff here, but my heart is bursting with pride, love and happiness: our eldest son has got married! (and to the most wonderful human being and perfect for him 😊):

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Cristina Leston-Bandeira @estrangeirada.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Remembering David Judge (1950 - 2026). I first met David in 1999. He was such an incredible person, we could do with more Davids in academia. Here is something I wrote when I heard the news last week, published by @psa-parliaments.bsky.social: psaparliaments.org/2026/02/17/r...

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Cristina Leston-Bandeira @estrangeirada.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Friendship is going all the way to New Zealand, getting me a mug from the Parliament, keeping it for three years until we finally met in person last Friday and @bymyong.bsky.social was able to give me the mug, to add to my collection of parliamentary cups and mugs 😊 . Thank you Ben 🙏 .

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Cristina Leston-Bandeira @estrangeirada.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

And great to get a print copy of the CPA's magazine with our article on the Guides on Citizen Engagement - a good read on the train back, after a v long day

Photo of article about the launch of the Guides on Citizen Engagement for Parliaments, in print version of the The Parliamentarian, the magazine of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)

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Cristina Leston-Bandeira @estrangeirada.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

One cancelled train three delayed trains and four trains later I eventually got home yesterday for 22:30, but really enjoyed being part of the first @studyofparl.bsky.social Welsh gathering to discuss what's to come with the Seventh Senedd. And such a stunning bay in Cardiff.

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Cristina Leston-Bandeira @estrangeirada.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

We had the most brilliant launch of Exploring Parliament this evening at the Institute for Government! Thank you to all the panellists, all the guests, and most of all to @instituteforgovernment.org.uk for hosting us, truly appreciated 🙏😊. V special also to have our own students attending 😊1/2:

Panel at the launch of the book Exploring Parliament, hosted by the Institute for Government - from left to right: Chloe Mawson (House of Lords, Clerk Assistant), Dr Sean Haughey (Liverpool University), Dr Hannah White (Institute for Government) and Professor Meg Russell (Constitution Unit, UCL).

Panel at the launch of the book Exploring Parliament, hosted by the Institute for Government - from left to right: Margaret McKinnon (House of Commons, Director, People and Culture Team), Professor Nick Allen (Royal Holloway University), Dr Hannah White (Institute for Government) and Dr Rebecca McKee (Institute for Government).

Students attending the launch of the book Exploring Parliament, hosted by the Institute for Government - from left to right: Emily Carter, Isabella Elie, Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira, Lewis Rantell, Soleen Ali and Dr Alexandra Meakin.

Guests enjoying the launch of the book Exploring Parliament, hosted by the Institute for Government.

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Cristina Leston-Bandeira @estrangeirada.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

V humbled by nomination by my peers and to have won the @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social Sir Isaiah Berlin prize for outstanding professional contributions to political studies. It's taken me a few days to get round the imposter feeling, but am v grateful to all those who nominated me and selected me. 🙏

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Cristina Leston-Bandeira @estrangeirada.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

The plant, now named Aileen (obvs), is back in Yorkshire, ready to be planted in the garden at the weekend. But what a cracking day she had travelling to and from Scotland😊.

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Cristina Leston-Bandeira @estrangeirada.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Having a rest at SPICe after committee evidence - first plant ever to a committee evidence? 4/4

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Cristina Leston-Bandeira @estrangeirada.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Admiring the fab exhibition currently at the Scottish Parliament about people's voices 3/4

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Cristina Leston-Bandeira @estrangeirada.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

So I met my son in Leeds (where I work, but don't live, he lives there) who gave me a (beautiful) plant for Mother's day; though the thing is: I was on my way to Scotland for work at the Scottish Parliament. So my beautiful plant has had a trip to Scotland. Down the Royal Mile 1/4

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Cristina Leston-Bandeira @estrangeirada.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Great to see this out - Doing Fieldwork in Centres of Power, ed. by Jonathan Chibois and Samuel Shapiro. I have a chapter where I reflect on my journey researching parliaments over the past 30 years, from Portugal to IPEN. Really enjoyed writing it - Getting to the Soul of Parliaments 😉.

Cover of book Doing Fieldwork in Centres of Power, edited by Jonathan Chibois and Samuel Shapiro

First page of chapter Getting to the soul of parliaments, by C. Leston-Bandeira

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Cristina Leston-Bandeira @estrangeirada.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

Are Westminster Hall debates Parliament's best kept secret (as interviewee told us)? Despite 25 years old, we know little about it - here are four key findings for the @psa-parliaments.bsky.social from pilot research @louisevthompson.bsky.social and I have done: psaparliaments.org/2025/01/05/w...

Perspective of the room where Westminster Hall debates take place. Photo from: https://ukparliament.shorthandstories.com/cet-westminster-hall-debates/index.html

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