With Stephen Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management at the University of Exeter.

Stephen will share insights from his study that looks at the people who occupied the more senior political offices in the UK between 1964 and 2015. As is the case today, a good majority of these people were Oxbridge graduates. His research draws on published biographies, memoirs and broadcast interviews to try to establish why graduates of Oxford and Cambridge have been so heavily over-represented in our political elite for so long. He will also explore how far the writing of Pierre Bourdieu on the French political elite helps to shine a light on the UK experience.

Stephen Taylor is a Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management at the University of Exeter Business School and also a Chief Examiner for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). He previously taught at Manchester Business School and for twelve years at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School. He also worked in a variety of HR management roles in the hotel industry and in the NHS. He teaches HRM and general management subjects as well as employment law at postgraduate and undergraduate level. Research interests include employee retention, the early careers of high achievers, occupational pensions and employment-related regulatory issues. Stephen is the author/co-author of several books including six editions of 'People Resourcing', five editions of 'Employment Law: An Introduction' (with Astra Emir), 'The Employee Retention Handbook', 'Contemporary Issues in HRM', 'Recruiting and Retaining Graduate Talent' (with Shirley Jenner), seven editions of 'Human Resource Management' (with Derek Torrington, Laura Hall and Carol Atkinson) and two editions of ‘Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (with Michael Armstrong). He has edited and contributed to several other books on human resource management and is the author/co-author of dozens of papers and articles. Stephen has acted as external examiner for several universities. He is a frequent speaker at HR conferences and ACAS events for employers. He has regularly represented parties in employment tribunals and also undertakes HR consultancy, tutoring and training work.