Dr Anna Sanders
Lecturer

Profile

Biography

Anna joined the University of York in 2022 as Lecturer in British Politics. Her research is interested in bringing together the areas of gender, elections and public policy. She is particularly interested in the gendered impact of policies, and how they influence differences in the ways that men and women vote.

Anna holds a PhD from the University of Manchester (2020), which in 2021 was awarded the Political Studies Association’s McDougall Trust Prize for best thesis in the field of elections, electoral systems and representation. Previously, she held a visiting position at Purdue University in Indiana, and research positions in Parliament and local government. Anna holds an MA in Political Science from the University of Manchester (2016) and a BA in Politics from Queen Mary, University of London (2015).

Her research has been featured in The Times, The Guardian, and BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, and she has provided expert comment for national and international news outlets, including BBC News, Channel 4 News, L’Opinon (France), and Expresso (Portugal).

Anna is Associate Editor of Political Studies. She also sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal of European Public Policy and British Politics.

Research

Overview

Anna’s research explores the areas of gender, elections and public policy. She has published on these themes in British Politics, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, the Journal of European Public Policy, and the Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties. Her research uses a mix of quantitative and qualitative approaches.

Anna’s main research interests are twofold. Her primary research interests concern gender and political behaviour in Britain. In 2022-23, she was Co-I on an ESRC IAA-funded project, ‘Surveying Women in Greater Manchester: Political Engagement, Preferences and Behaviour’ (with Dr Rosalind Shorrocks, University of Manchester). Collaborating with GM4Women2028 – a women’s charity in Greater Manchester – the project aimed to generate regionally-disaggregated data on women’s attitudes and preferences so that they can be better represented in regional policy decisions.

Anna’s secondary research interests relate to UK governance and productivity. She has recently worked with The Productivity Institute examining the implementation of spatial inequality policies in Britain over the last 40 years.

Supervision

PhD Supervision:

• Andrew Allen - The influence of environmental eNGOs in shaping UK public policy on nature conservation
• Alex Woodward – Examining trust in English combined authorities

Dr Anna Sanders welcomes PhD applications in the following areas:

• Gender and politics
• Elections
• Political behaviour
• British politics
• Mixed methods
• Local government
• Public policy

Publications

Selected publications

• Sanders, A. and Gains, F. (2024), ‘Weaponising women and gender: Party appeals to women voters ahead of the 2024 British general election’, Parliamentary Affairs 77(4): 686-712.
• Diamond, P., Richards, D., Newman, J., Sanders, A. and Westwood, A. (2024), ‘’Hyperactive incrementalism’ and the Westminster system of governance: Why UK spatial policy has failed over time’, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 26(4): 1185-1210.
• Shorrocks, R. and Sanders, A. (2024), ‘Gendering the floating voter: A mixed methods study of gender and undecided voters in Britain’, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 26(4): 1144-1165.
• Sanders, A. and Flavell, J. (2023), ‘The direction of gender equality policy in Britain post-Brexit: Towards a masculinized Westminster Model’, Journal of European Public Policy 30(11): 2305-2325.
• Sanders, A. (2022), ‘The impact of gendered policies on women’s voting behavior: Evidence from the 2015 British General Election’, Journal of Women, Politics and Policy 44(2): 168-185.
• Sanders, A, Gains, F. and Annesley, C. (2021), ‘What’s on offer? How parties appeal to women in manifestos’, Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 31(4): 508-527.
• Sanders, A. and Shorrocks, R. (2019), ‘All in this together?: Gender, age and austerity in the 2015 and 2017 in British General Elections’, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 24(4): 667-688. [Awarded the John Peterson Prize for Best Article 2019]
• Sanders, A., Annesley, C. and Gains, F. (2019), ‘What did the coalition government do for women? An analysis of gender equality policy agendas in the UK 2010-2015’, British Politics, 14: 162-180.

Teaching

Undergraduate

• Politics in the United Kingdom (Convenor)
• Elections and Voting Behaviour (Co-convenor)

Postgraduate

• Gendering Politics: An Intersectional Approach