John Curtice | |
|---|---|
 Curtice in 2016 | |
| Born | (1953-12-10)10 December 1953 (age 71) Redruth, Cornwall, England |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford (MA) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Politics |
| Institutions | University of Strathclyde University of Liverpool University of Oxford[1] |
| Website | www |
Sir John Kevin Curtice (born 10 December 1953) is a British political scientist and professor of politics at theUniversity of Strathclyde[2][3] and senior research fellow at theNational Centre for Social Research.[4] He is particularly interested inelectoral behaviour and researching political and social attitudes. He took a keen interest in the debate aboutScottish independence.[5]
Curtice was born on 10 December 1953 inRedruth,[2][6] and grew up inSt Austell, Cornwall. In an interview withThe Guardian, Curtice said his interest in electoral behaviour began when he was allowed to stay up to watch a results show on television at the1964 election.[7] The son of a construction worker and a part-time market researcher, he wasprivately educated atTruro School from 1965 to 1972,[2][8] and theUniversity of Oxford where he was an undergraduate student andchoral scholar atMagdalen College, Oxford readingphilosophy, politics and economics (PPE) and graduating in 1976.[9] He was a contemporary ofTony Blair[9] but described the transition to Oxford as "fairly challenging, coming from aworking-class background".[7]
From 1981 to 1983 Curtice was aresearch fellow atNuffield College, Oxford.[10][1][11] Curtice was appointed as alecturer at theUniversity of Liverpool from 1983 to 1988, then a lecturer andsenior lecturer at theUniversity of Strathclyde from 1988 to 1997[1] before being promoted toProfessor in 1998.[2]
Curtice serves as president of theBritish Polling Council, vice-chair of theEconomic and Social Data Service's Advisory Committee and is a member of the editorial board of theJournal of Elections, the Executive Committee of the British Politics Section of theAmerican Political Science Association, and the Policy Advisory Committee of theInstitute for Public Policy Research.[3] He was formerly a Fellow at theNetherlands Institute for Advanced Study and a member of the steering committee of theComparative Study of Electoral Systems project.[3]
Curtice has frequently appeared onBBC News during broadcast coverage ofgeneral elections in the United Kingdom, giving his predictions of the results in2005,2010,2015 and2017.[12] WithDavid Firth he developed the methodology for theexit poll estimation used in the general election coverage.[13] He has picked up a strong following onsocial media, and was mentioned frequently onTwitter during the2017 election, though he shuns this attention, adding "I've no wish to become a media celebrity".[14]
Curtice is an author and co-author of several books[15] including:
Curtice was electedFellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) in 1992 and aFellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) in 2004.[3] In 2014 he was elected aFellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom'snational academy for the humanities and social sciences.[16] In 2017, he was elected an honoraryfellow of theRoyal Statistical Society.[17] He is also aFellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS).[2] Curtice was appointed aKnight Bachelor in the2018 New Year Honours for services to the Social Sciences and Politics.[2][18]
Curtice married Lisa Joan Riding in 1978.[2] She is a social scientist[19] who later retrained as a priest in theScottish Episcopal Church.[20][21] They have one daughter[10] and two granddaughters.[22] Their daughterRuth Curtice is the chief executive of theResolution Foundation.[23]
Curtice is a member of theNational Liberal Club.[2] Curtice and Riding previously lived in theWest End district of Glasgow[7] but have since moved toPort Glasgow inInverclyde due to Riding becoming the new rector of St Mary's Episcopal Church.[22]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |