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Our Mission
Explaining why politics matters
We want to shift the narrative from disengagement with and disillusionment in politics to a bright, positive vision of how change comes through politics.
Whatever you are passionate about, it is likely politics is a powerful and fast way to effect change you want:
- in local communities, working with councillors committed to your objective
- with MPs and MSPs to campaign for common causes
- with Parliaments and governments on major issues such as climate change
We believe everyone benefits and society is strengthened when more people from across a broader representation of backgrounds believe in and participate in UK politics.
How do we do it?
The Centre works to break down barriers to politics through:
- Advocacy for why politics matters to us all and how to use politics for positive change
- Research into what the public thinks about our politics to help us create prescriptions for better engagement with politics
- Paid internship and development programmes to support diverse young voices to be inspired by politics and use politics as a force for good
University of Glasgow
The John Smith Centre is housed within the School of Social & Political Sciences at the University of Glasgow.
Founded in 1451, the University of Glasgow is the fourth oldest university in the English-speaking world. It welcomes students from more than 140 countries worldwide and has around 29,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students.
