Prof. Darren Lilleker is a teacher and researcher whose interests lie in the intersection between political strategy, societal dynamics and civic engagement. In the context of political communication research, his research looks as who says what, how and why and with what impact. The ambition of the work is to develop communication models which meet political objectives while also engendering social inclusivity.

Current research projects relate to the circulation of, and belief in, disinformation and conspiracy theories. Lilleker is leading a funded network which links together researchers within a number of fragile European democracies to investigate methods for mitigating their impacts. Lilleker is also involved in a project exploring perceived marginalisation in post-industrial communities, investigating narratives about and by members of these communities. The work on narratives and stories extends also to work with a range of marginalised groups, including migrant and diaspora communities, and intersectional minorities in a range of contexts.

Prof. Lilleker's teaching covers topics relating to political communication, communication theory and reception theory which are core to the MA International Political Communication and MA Political Psychology programmes. These broad themes are currently captured through the delivery of units covering psychology and campaigning. His work in this area was recognised with the award of Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

Prof. Lilleker leads the Centre for Comparative Politics and Media Research and plays an active role within the international scholarly community. He has also enjoyed a long career of mentoring, both within the University and across the discipline. He has supervised 24 PhD students to completion and examined projects across the UK and Europe. Prof. Lilleker has also worked on a range of consultancy projects at the local and national level as well as working with NGOs in South American and Sub-Saharan Africa; the projects all focused on developing communication models to overcome marginalisation.

Aside from his academic career he is a husband, father and grandfather, organiser of beer festivals, biker and lover of books and music.

Research

Professor Lilleker's research concerns both the professionalisation, marketization and strategic development of political communication and the impacts upon citizen engagement.
His research has covered local election campaigning and the impact upon voter choices; and party, candidate and MP's usage of the Internet, from websites to social media, and correlations between usage and gaining support.
He was involved in two FP7 consortiums exploring how social media could be an agent within conflict resolution and has led a range of projects exploring online political engagement during elections and referenda within the UK and across the EU.
Professor Lilleker's work also explores aspects of political cognition, specifically how citizens are impacted by political communication. This interdisciplinary conceptual work draws on theories from experimental psychology, consumer and communication psychology as well as psephological studies.

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Outreach & engagement

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