Neil Mortimer
Local Lockdown Responses in Australia and Great Britain: Policy Learning and Transformative Governance during the COVID-19 Crisis
Neil is a third-year interdisciplinary doctoral researcher at the Institute for Diplomacy and Governance, with a primary focus on policy responses to COVID-19 and their implications for governance and policymaking. Neil seeks to contribute to the understanding of how policy responses to COVID-19 impact governance and inform evidence-based policymaking and practice.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Politics (2:1, B.A.) from Nottingham Trent University (2012-2015), a Master of Arts degree in European Studies (7.5, M.A.) from the University of Amsterdam (2015-2016), and a Master of Science degree in Public Policy and Governance (7.9, MSc) from the University of Amsterdam (2017-2018).
With a strong academic foundation spanning across the UK and the Netherlands, Neil's research interests centre around policy responses to COVID-19 and their implications for governance and policymaking, reflecting his interdisciplinary approach to studying complex issues at the intersection of policy, governance, and the ongoing global pandemic.
PhD research description
Neil's PhD research focuses on conducting a comprehensive examination of local lockdown responses in all devolved regions of Great Britain, including Wales and England, during the year 2020. Additionally, he will be examining local lockdown responses in states/territories across Australia during a residency at the Australian National University in Canberra later this year.
The scope of this study involves a comparative analysis of local lockdown responses in a federal context (Australia) and a devolved context (Great Britain), with a particular emphasis on transformative governance as a conceptual lens. Through policy learning and comparative case studies, Neil aims to enable British and Australian policymakers and practitioners to learn from the pandemic and respond to calls for transformative change, including the potential for new governance frameworks, especially during times of crisis.
The ultimate goal of this research is to contribute to the understanding of policy responses to COVID-19 and their implications for governance, with the aim of informing evidence-based policymaking and practice in both countries.
PhD supervisors
Neil's research is supervised by Professor Helen Drake, Dr Tim Oliver and Dr Nicola Chelotti.
Awards, grants or scholarships received
Neil was awarded the Full Doctoral Scholarship (2020-2023).