Professor Leighton Andrews
Professor of Practice in Public Service Leadership and Innovation
- Welsh speaking
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
Leighton Andrews is Professor of Practice in Public Service Leadership and Innovation at Cardiff Business School. He teaches, researches and writes in the fields of government, public leadership and innovation, regulation and governance of media, social media and digital. His most recent book is Ministerial Leadership: Practice, Performance and Power (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024). His other books include Facebook, the Media and Democracy, (Routledge, 2019); Ministering to Education (Parthian, 2014) and Wales Says Yes (Seren, 1999).
Formerly Minister for Education and Skills and Minister for Public Services in the Welsh Labour Governments from 2009-16, and a Deputy Minister from 2007-9. He was Assembly Member for the Rhondda from 2003-16.
Prior to his election to the National Assembly in 2003, Leighton had had a successful career in the private, public and voluntary sectors. He was the BBC's Head of Public Affairs in London from 1993-1996 during its Charter Renewal campaign He ran a number of businesses in the public relations field and set up his own business after leaving the BBC.
He chaired the Digital News Taskforce for the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly which reported in June 2017. In 2022 he became a member of the Future Generation Commissioner's Steering Group on how the Welsh Government implements the Well-bring of Future Generations Act. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Public Affairs.He has been chair of the Cardiff City Football Club Community Foundation since 2017.
Twitter: @leightonandrews
Publication
2024
- Andrews, L. 2024. Rethinking the politics of blame avoidance under populism: the UK, Covid-19, strategic lying, bullshit, boosterism and scapegoating. In: Rhodes, R. A. W. et al. eds. The Politics and Governance of Blame. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 680-703., (10.1093/oso/9780198896388.003.0028)
- Andrews, L. 2024. Ministerial leadership: Practice, performance and power. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. (10.1007/978-3-031-50008-4)
2022
- Andrews, L. 2022. Performing Welsh Government 1999-2016: how insider narratives illuminate the hidden wiring and emergent cultural practices. Contemporary British History 36(1), pp. 124-156. (10.1080/13619462.2021.1996235)
2021
- Andrews, L. 2021. Mortality, blame avoidance and the state: constructing Boris Johnson’s exit strategy. In: Price, S. and Harbisher, B. eds. Media, and the Covid-19 Pandemic: Framing Public Discourse. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, pp. 220-234., (10.4324/9781003147299-16)
- Andrews, L. 2021. The forward march of devolution halted and the limits of progressive unionism. Political Quarterly 92(3), pp. 512-521. (10.1111/1467-923X.13044)
- Andrews, L. 2021. ‘Like any wartime government’: Covid-19, Churchillian imaginaries, English exceptionalism and the battle of Britishness.. In: Pettit, J. ed. Covid-19, the Second World War and the Idea of Britishness. British Identities Since 1707 Vol. 4. Peter Lang, pp. 89-118.
- Andrews, L. 2021. The forward march of devolution halted. Presented at: PSA Annual International Conference 2021, Virtual, 29-31 March 2021.
- Andrews, L. 2021. COVID-19 and the narrative capacity of governments: the case of the UK. Presented at: PSA Annual International Conference 2021, Virtual, 29-31 March 2021.
2020
- Andrews, L. 2020. The role of Ministerial leadership - some reflections from Wales. In: Harris, A. and Jones, M. eds. Leading and Transforming Education Systems: Evidence, Insights, Critique and Reflections. Springer, pp. 91-104.
- Andrews, L. 2020. The BBC - Britishness, broadcasting, and the culture wars. In: Mair, J. ed. The BBC - A Winter of Discontent. Bite-Sized Books, pp. 47-53.
- Andrews, L. 2020. Facebook regulation: a process not a text. UK Copyright Centre and Creative Economy Centre (CREATe). Available at: https://www.create.ac.uk/blog/2020/07/08/new-working-paper-facebook-regulation-a-process-not-a-text/
- Andrews, L. and Iosifidis, P. 2020. Regulating the Internet intermediaries in a post-truth world: Beyond media policy?. International Communication Gazette 82(3), pp. 211-230. (10.1177/1748048519828595)
- Andrews, L. 2020. Brexit, Cabinet norms and the ministerial code: are we living in a post-Nolan era?. Political Quarterly 91(1), pp. 125-133., article number: Volume91, Issue1 January–March 2020 Pages 125-133. (10.1111/1467-923X.12778)
- Andrews, L. 2020. Facebook regulation: a process not a text. Presented at: PSA Annual International Conference 2020: Re-imagining Politics, Edinburgh, Scotland, 06-08 April, 2020.
- Andrews, L. 2020. Political leadership, discursive capacity and governance readiness in the age of Big Data.. Presented at: 5th PUPOL Conference 2020, The Hague, Netherlands, 15-16 October 2020.
2019
- Andrews, L. 2019. Algorithms, regulation and governance readiness. In: Lodge, M. and Yeung, K. eds. Algorithmic Regulation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 203-223.
- Andrews, L. 2019. Facebook, the media and democracy: Big tech, small state?. Disruptions. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. (10.4324/9780429466410)
- Andrews, L. 2019. Public administration, public leadership and the construction of public value in the age of the algorithm and ‘big data’. Public Administration 97(2), pp. 296-310. (10.1111/padm.12534)
2018
- Andrews, L. 2018. Telling governance stories: from Lecturer, to Minister, and Back!. PS: Political Science & Politics 51(1) (10.1017/S1049096517001871)
- Andrews, L. 2018. Governing Wales – hidden wiring and emerging cultural practice. Presented at: Political Studies Association Annual Conference, Cardiff, UK, 26-28 March 2018.
2017
- Andrews, L. 2017. How can we demonstrate the public value of evidence-based policy making when government ministers declare that the people ‘have had enough of experts’?. Palgrave Communications 3, article number: 11 (2017). (10.1057/s41599-017-0013-4)
- Andrews, L. et al. 2017. Algorithms, governance and regulation: beyond "the necessary hashtags". Project Report. London: London School of Economics and Political Science.
- Andrews, L. 2017. The role of the Minister in driving innovation: some post-Ministerial perspectives on creating public value. Presented at: Public Service Innovation Conference (PUBSIC 2017), Lillehammer, Norway, 15-17 November 2017.
Articles
- Andrews, L. 2022. Performing Welsh Government 1999-2016: how insider narratives illuminate the hidden wiring and emergent cultural practices. Contemporary British History 36(1), pp. 124-156. (10.1080/13619462.2021.1996235)
- Andrews, L. 2021. The forward march of devolution halted and the limits of progressive unionism. Political Quarterly 92(3), pp. 512-521. (10.1111/1467-923X.13044)
- Andrews, L. and Iosifidis, P. 2020. Regulating the Internet intermediaries in a post-truth world: Beyond media policy?. International Communication Gazette 82(3), pp. 211-230. (10.1177/1748048519828595)
- Andrews, L. 2020. Brexit, Cabinet norms and the ministerial code: are we living in a post-Nolan era?. Political Quarterly 91(1), pp. 125-133., article number: Volume91, Issue1 January–March 2020 Pages 125-133. (10.1111/1467-923X.12778)
- Andrews, L. 2019. Public administration, public leadership and the construction of public value in the age of the algorithm and ‘big data’. Public Administration 97(2), pp. 296-310. (10.1111/padm.12534)
- Andrews, L. 2018. Telling governance stories: from Lecturer, to Minister, and Back!. PS: Political Science & Politics 51(1) (10.1017/S1049096517001871)
- Andrews, L. 2017. How can we demonstrate the public value of evidence-based policy making when government ministers declare that the people ‘have had enough of experts’?. Palgrave Communications 3, article number: 11 (2017). (10.1057/s41599-017-0013-4)
Book sections
- Andrews, L. 2024. Rethinking the politics of blame avoidance under populism: the UK, Covid-19, strategic lying, bullshit, boosterism and scapegoating. In: Rhodes, R. A. W. et al. eds. The Politics and Governance of Blame. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 680-703., (10.1093/oso/9780198896388.003.0028)
- Andrews, L. 2021. Mortality, blame avoidance and the state: constructing Boris Johnson’s exit strategy. In: Price, S. and Harbisher, B. eds. Media, and the Covid-19 Pandemic: Framing Public Discourse. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, pp. 220-234., (10.4324/9781003147299-16)
- Andrews, L. 2021. ‘Like any wartime government’: Covid-19, Churchillian imaginaries, English exceptionalism and the battle of Britishness.. In: Pettit, J. ed. Covid-19, the Second World War and the Idea of Britishness. British Identities Since 1707 Vol. 4. Peter Lang, pp. 89-118.
- Andrews, L. 2020. The role of Ministerial leadership - some reflections from Wales. In: Harris, A. and Jones, M. eds. Leading and Transforming Education Systems: Evidence, Insights, Critique and Reflections. Springer, pp. 91-104.
- Andrews, L. 2020. The BBC - Britishness, broadcasting, and the culture wars. In: Mair, J. ed. The BBC - A Winter of Discontent. Bite-Sized Books, pp. 47-53.
- Andrews, L. 2019. Algorithms, regulation and governance readiness. In: Lodge, M. and Yeung, K. eds. Algorithmic Regulation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 203-223.
Books
- Andrews, L. 2024. Ministerial leadership: Practice, performance and power. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. (10.1007/978-3-031-50008-4)
- Andrews, L. 2019. Facebook, the media and democracy: Big tech, small state?. Disruptions. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. (10.4324/9780429466410)
Conferences
- Andrews, L. 2021. The forward march of devolution halted. Presented at: PSA Annual International Conference 2021, Virtual, 29-31 March 2021.
- Andrews, L. 2021. COVID-19 and the narrative capacity of governments: the case of the UK. Presented at: PSA Annual International Conference 2021, Virtual, 29-31 March 2021.
- Andrews, L. 2020. Facebook regulation: a process not a text. Presented at: PSA Annual International Conference 2020: Re-imagining Politics, Edinburgh, Scotland, 06-08 April, 2020.
- Andrews, L. 2020. Political leadership, discursive capacity and governance readiness in the age of Big Data.. Presented at: 5th PUPOL Conference 2020, The Hague, Netherlands, 15-16 October 2020.
- Andrews, L. 2018. Governing Wales – hidden wiring and emerging cultural practice. Presented at: Political Studies Association Annual Conference, Cardiff, UK, 26-28 March 2018.
- Andrews, L. 2017. The role of the Minister in driving innovation: some post-Ministerial perspectives on creating public value. Presented at: Public Service Innovation Conference (PUBSIC 2017), Lillehammer, Norway, 15-17 November 2017.
Monographs
- Andrews, L. 2020. Facebook regulation: a process not a text. UK Copyright Centre and Creative Economy Centre (CREATe). Available at: https://www.create.ac.uk/blog/2020/07/08/new-working-paper-facebook-regulation-a-process-not-a-text/
- Andrews, L. et al. 2017. Algorithms, governance and regulation: beyond "the necessary hashtags". Project Report. London: London School of Economics and Political Science.
- Andrews, L. 2018. Telling governance stories: from Lecturer, to Minister, and Back!. PS: Political Science & Politics 51(1) (10.1017/S1049096517001871)
Research
Research interests
- Public Service Leadership and Innovation, including Ministerial Leadership
- Public Service Strategy, Planning, Delivery and Implementation
- Ministerial Life and Lives
- Governance Narratives and Discursive Capacity
- Governance of Devolution
- Public policy-making
- Media and Social Media Regulation and Governance
Recent journal articles and chapters include:Mortality, blame avoidance and the British state: constructing Boris Johnson’s exit strategy, chapter in Stuart Price and Ben Harbisher (ed) : Power, Media, and the Covid-19 Pandemic: framing public discourse; ‘Like any wartime government’: Covid-19, Churchillian imaginaries, and the limits of English exceptionalism, in Jo Pettit (ed), Covid-19, the Second World War, and the idea of Britishness; Performing Welsh Government 1999–2016: how insider narratives illuminate the hidden wiring and emergent cultural practices, in Contemporary British History https://doi.org/10.1080/13619462.2021.1996235; The forward march of devolution halted – and the limits of progressive unionism. In Political Quarterly https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.13044; The role of Ministerial leadership - some reflections from Wales. In: Harris, Alma and Jones, Michelle (Eds) 2020 Leading and Transforming Education Systems, Springer; Reluctant Europeans: the BBC and European media policymaking 1992-1997 in the International Journal of Cultural Policy; Brexit, Cabinet Norms and the Ministerial Code: are we living in a post-Nolan era? in Political Quarterly; Algorithms, Regulation and Governance Readiness in Algorithmic Regulation, edited by Karen Yeung and Martin Lodge. Oxford: OUP; Regulating the internet intermediaries in a post-truth world: Beyond media policy? (co-written with Prof Petros Iosifidis) in International Communications Gazette, https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048519828595 ; The Regulatory Moment is Upon Us in Mair, J, Clark, T, Fowler, N, Snoddy, R, Tait R (eds) Anti-Social Media? The impact on journalism and society, Bury St. Edmunds: Abramis Academic Publishing, 2018; Public administration, public leadership and the construction of public value in the age of the algorithm and 'big data' in Public Administration; Telling Governance Stories in PS: Political Science; How can we demonstrate the public value of evidence-based policy making when government ministers declare that the people ‘have had enough of experts’? in Palgrave Communications.
Books by Leighton:
Wales Says Yes (Seren, 1999)
Ministering to Education (Parthian, 2014).
Facebook, the Media and Democracy, (Routledge, 2019).
Ministerial Leadership: Practice, Performance and Power (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024)
Leighton has presented papers to a range of academic conferences in politics, public leadership and the media. He was a keynote speaker at the 2018 Political Studies Association conference in Cardiff in 2018.
Teaching
Leighton has taught a wide range of modules in public leadership and politics.
He developed and teaches a post-graduate politics module Government from the Inside: from the Minister's Viewpoint for Masters courses in Politics. From 2024 he will be teaching a new but related module Ministers at Work and a new module Political Stories.
He co-developed the Executive MSc in Public Leadership and taught the module Leading Policy into Delivery. He jointly developed and jointly delivers the module on Strategic Planning and Innovation on the Diploma in NHS Planning.
In 2019 he jointly developed and jointly delivered a module on Leadership, Innovation and Change for the Academi Wales all-Wales Graduate programme delivered through the the University of South Wales.
In 2018 and 2020 he taught on the executive leadership course for the NHS Wales Finance Academy.
From 2018-2020 he taught International Business Environment module on the MSc in International Management in Cardiff Business School.
He also contributes guest lectures to a variety of other programmes across the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
Biography
Career
Formerly Minister for Education and Skills and Minister for Public Services in the Welsh Governments from 2009-16, a Deputy Minister in the One Wales Government from 2007-9 and Assembly Member for the Rhondda from 2003-16.
Prior to his election to the National Assembly in 2003, Leighton had had a successful career in the private, public and voluntary sectors. He was the BBC's Head of Public Affairs in London from 1993-1996 during its Charter Renewal campaign He ran a number of businesses in the public relations field and set up his own business after leaving the BBC.
Qualifications
- BA Hons, English and History, University of Wales, 1978
- MA History, University of Sussex, 1980
Media contributions
Leighton has written for an extensive range of publications in both print and digital format, including the Guardian, the Irish Times, New Statesman, Times Higher Education Supplement, the Western Mail, The New European, Golwg, Agenda, ClickonWales, The Conversation, the Article, Byline Times and many others. He has broadcast regularly for a wide range of media outlets on both television and radio. Recent examples are listed on his personal website www.leightonandrews.com
Professional memberships
- NUJ
- PSA
Academic positions
- 2004-2016, Honorary Professor, JOMEC, Cardiff University
- 2002-2003, Lecturer in Cardiff University School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies (JOMEC)
- 1997 Visiting Professor, University of Westminster
Supervisions
I am interested in supervising in the following areas:
- public service leadership and innovation
- government ministerial life at UK and Welsh levels
- public sector narratives
- evolution of Welsh Government
- regulation of Facebook and Google.
Contact Details
+44 29208 76564
Aberconway Building, Room F43, Colum Road, Cathays, Cardiff, CF10 3EU
Research themes
Specialisms
- Comparative government and politics
- Communications and media policy
- Social Media
- Leadership