Ben Jackson

Professor Ben Jackson is a Professor of Modern History at University College, Oxford. His research focuses on political and policy debates in 20th-century Britain, with expertise in socialism, liberalism, neo-liberalism, and Scottish nationalism. He has authored influential books such as Equality and the British Left (2007), Making Thatcher’s Britain (2012), and The Case for Scottish Independence (2020). He co-edits the Political Quarterly and serves on editorial boards for journals like Twentieth Century British History.

His research interests include the political thought of British socialism and liberalism, the rise of neoliberalism and Thatcherism, and Scottish nationalist ideology. He supervises DPhil students in modern British political history and economic policy. Jackson is affiliated with the Oxford Centre for European History and Oxford Centre for Intellectual History.

His recent work critiques the 'neoliberal age' framework in British history and explores the historiography of Thatcherism. He has also engaged with media discussions on figures like Friedrich Hayek and Beatrice Webb.