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Paul Hayes

@paulhayes01.bsky.social
738 followers 506 following 519 posts

Senior Policy Fellow, Leeds University Business School. Defrocked #localgov policy bod. Into: Cities, Devo, Councils, Localism and all things The North. Doesn't have a podcast.

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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Many are the reasons to love Wakefield Trinity. Mine: Early 90's midweek floodlit game. Govt had that day announced another raft of pit closures. Every Wakefield player came onto the field having chalked out the name of the then shirt sponsor. "British Coal".
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Yesss!! #WTRL
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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Your regular reminder that Cambridge University has been investigating James Orr for about a month, and it’s all gone a bit quiet. www.varsity.co.uk/news/32175
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Have we now moved on from "Sports Washing" to "Sports Blackmail"?
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Council Tax. Worked as a short term political fix for the 'Community Charge' (sic) debacle, but now woefully out of date and chock full of the outcomes of 3 decades of unintended consequences (if I'm being generous using that term).
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
See also: social/affordable housing and housing related benefits :-(
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Saddest thing I ever heard in local govt was from a colleague in Blackpool: "We did some focus groups about why people in HMO's moved here as adults. Going to Blackpool was the last place where they felt happy as kids" :-(
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richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
When yimbies celebrate the 30s as a housebuilding paradise, they often don't mention that building only followed massive public investment.
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Given my many, many bleak evenings on the Bradford/Whitehaven/Widnes (delete where applicable) terraces enduring dour nailbiting relegation struggles - this is simply wonderful #upthetrin
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Yep.
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Whatever did happen to that future George Osbone promised us? The one where we'd be wearing, sleeping on and eating Graphene? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
OpenAI’s George Osborne says datacentre nimbys holding back Britain
Former chancellor, now senior figure at OpenAI, says UK needs datacentres to maintain ‘sovereignty’ over AI tech
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Migration Economics Stat Of The Day.
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The Taxpayers Alliance (sic) actually does 'research'?
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
"universities may be most effective when they support and strengthen wider civic capacity: contributing expertise, evidence, convening power and long-term commitment to place." Yup.
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Shocked to be in agreement with Polly Toynbee for once. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
#thisisengland
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Tufton St wunderkiddies polishing their cv's as I type....
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
"The street finds its own uses for things".
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
My excellent Leeds University Business School colleagues in full effect here.
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Second Reading @commonslibrary.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
A visitor levy for English mayors? commonslibrary.parliament.uk/a-visi…
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Daily Mail in Familiar With People In Black Uniforms Shock.
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Deja vu time for any of us who moved from other public services into HE.
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Some Cheery Morning Reading for y'all.
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Arguably @arguablymag.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Chris Curtis MP @chriscurtis94.bsky.social and Jack Shaw @jacktshaw.bsky.social argue that once retail-heavy high-streets need 'beetroots, bowling alleys and botox' to survive. www.arguably.uk/p/can-the-br...
arguably.uk
How to reinvent the British high street
Why town centres need beetroots, bowling alleys and botox
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Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds @sspatleeds.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
📢 Join the launch of the Earning + Learning campaign Hear from young people, the TUC, Young Women's Trust and University of Leeds researchers on improving employment rights for student workers. 📅 24 September, 12pm 💻 Free online event 👉 Reserve your place and find out more: tinyurl.com/4j58sa3y
Bright yellow poster for the Earning + Learning campaign. Large black text on the left reads: “Your boss hopes you don’t read this!” Several thick diagonal cream and black stripes cross the poster from bottom left to top right. At the bottom left is the Earning + Learning logo. A white box at the bottom right contains the text: “Studying and working? Employment rights apply to you!” alongside a QR code linking to further information. The bold design uses high-contrast colours to draw attention to student workers’ employment rights.Bright blue poster for the Earning + Learning campaign. Large black text across the top asks: “Is your student job causing you problems?” Stylised light blue pill-shaped graphics are scattered across the background. Below, smaller text reads: “Learn about your rights and where to get help.” The Earning + Learning logo appears in the bottom left corner. A white box at the bottom right contains the message: “Studying and working? Employment rights apply to you!” alongside a QR code linking to further information. Curved black graphic lines frame the lower right edge of the poster. The design promotes awareness of employment rights and support for student workers.
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Fascinating Why We Game read about home made RPG playing in Prison. "There is a quiet, melancholic beauty of the game as an art form, a way of processing the world around us." barenuckelavee.bearblog.dev/no-one-can-t...
barenuckelavee.bearblog.dev
NO ONE CAN TAKE YOUR GAME FROM YOU
There is a sickness in the modern tabletop hobby, a kind of creeping, insidious consumerism that tries to convince you that you need things to play. We get c...
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
The most amusing bit of Orr's academic page at Cambridge? "Not available for consultancy".
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Farage not a fan of sociology degrees then.
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HK @hkesvani.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Are we going to get the 200 articles on James Orr then? Maybe read and interrogate the footnotes of his doctoral thesis? Is Cambridge going to have to issue out statements about its hiring standards?
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
All quiet so far today down the Cambridge University press office?
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Is that James Orr out of Cambridge then?
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
"Move over Nick Land, there's a new Sheriff in town". Neoreaction goes from Dark Enlightenment, to Dark Biblical.
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Gosh when was the last time that a Prime Minister used the word ‘academia’? www.ft.com/content/2390...
He added: "We will back local industrial strategies, a policy of the Theresa May government I am happy to revive, by identifying priority sectors and developing the triple helix approach to economic development by entwining business, academia and government behind the plan.
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Filing under 'unintended consequences'.
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Possibly not 'cost him his premiership', but definitely come back to haunt him. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Andy Burnham has already made a mistake that will cost him his premiership: he lost his nerve over political donations | George Monbiot
Being subservient to the interests of the wealthy now means that his hands are tied, and he will be unable to tackle Britain’s most pressing issues, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
As the Burnham got sets up a cross govt group on 'public control' - that term resonates with those of us around long enough to have mainlined 1970's dystopian British TV series at an impressionable age.
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Essay question for today: "The 3 motivations for estate regeneration: distaste for the way the place looks, distaste for the people who live on it and distaste for the whole idea of council housing." Discuss. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
James Meek · ‘What kind of people do they think we are?’: Where will we build?
Now that Southwark has become desirable, the patches of neglect are placeholders for the chains and high-end outlets the...
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Lest we forget....
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Oh, Prof Furedi... "After genocide denial, libelling ITN, migration to the Lords, Spiked & Daily Mail/Telegraph, another chapter closes in the long & weird history of the RCP." (Great taste in MA 1 jackets as de rigeur activist uniform back in the day though). www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Head of Viktor Orbán’s favourite thinktank quits over unpaid wages
Frank Furedi announces resignation with immediate effect after organisation’s staff ‘not paid in July or August’
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Very much a cultural and attitudinal difference between civil servants and local govt officers. Be interesting to see how mayors cope with any new influx of whitehall trained types.
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
One thing I've never got. The people who say: "I hate immigrants". and then "Except the ones I know. They're really nice."
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
'policy fatalism' ( "it's awful, but we can't do anythingabout it) in action again. Lot of it out there. bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journal...
bristoluniversitypressdigital.com
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
From the latest edition of The Economist. Most telling line in this article? "Britons will do anything to keep their high streets alive other than actually visit them."
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
"the value of devolution is not found solely in the powers that are transferred. Some of its most important effects come from creating the space for places to develop their own capacity for leadership, stewardship and long-term problem solving."
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
"We have a state paid for by the better off that provides services primarily for the sick, the old and people in acute crisis." www.ft.com/content/9102...
ft.com
Austerity denial and the mystery of Britain’s shrunken state
There is a ready supply of explanations on offer at Westminster
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Landlordism In The UK: "Total income from UK property increased by £12.3bn, or 26% between 2020-2025, driven by an increase in both avg property income and number of individuals reporting property income, which increased to 2.88m in 2025 from 2.81m in 2021" www.gov.uk/government/s...
gov.uk
Property rental income statistics: 2026
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Some fascinating stuff on taxis here - why local areas need a proper strategy for taxis as key part of the public transport infrastructure (especially for disabled people and non car owners). www.gov.uk/government/s...
gov.uk
Taxi and private hire vehicle statistics, England: 2026
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
"Local unemployment a much stronger predictor of NEET rates than poor qualifications or health... (recommend) more localised, devolved approaches that combine skills & health support with job creation, economic development & employer incentives tailored to local labour market conditions."
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The economics of collectible card games are fascinating. Definitely Artificial Scarcity and Animal Spirits a go-go. www.rascal.news/products-are...
rascal.news
Products aren’t people and don’t “have to” do anything
MTG’s Zeta Set looks rad, but let’s not pretend naivety about $20 booster packs.
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Paul Hayes @paulhayes01.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I'd argue George Osborne is to blame, far more than Mrs Thatcher. 2010's austerity was the death of local society and community by a thousand cuts.
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