Vernon Bogdanor

Career

From 1966 Bogdanor was Fellow in Politics, Senior Tutor (1979–85 and 1996–97), Vice-Principal, and (in 2002–03) Acting Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Fellow of the British Academy and an Honorary Fellow of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies.

He has been a member of the Council of the Hansard Society for Parliamentary Government, Specialist Adviser to the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Communities, Member of the Court of Essex University, adviser (as a member of the Council of Europe and American Bar Association delegations) to the governments of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel and Slovakia on constitutional and electoral reform, member of the Academic Panel of Local Authority Associations, member of the Hansard Society Commission on the Legislative Process, member of the UK Government delegation on Democratic Institutions in Central and Eastern Europe and Conference on the Protection of Minorities, Consultant to Independent Television News (ITN) on the General Election, member of the Economic and Social Research Council's committee administering the 'Whitehall' programme, special adviser to the House of Commons Select Committee on the Public Services, member of the Swedish Constitutional Reform Project, member of the Advisory Group to the High Commissioner on National Minorities, adviser to the President of Trinidad on the Constitution of Trinidad, and member of the Economic and Social Research Council's committee administering the devolution programme.

Bogdanor is a frequent contributor to television, radio and newspapers. Between 2004 and 2008 he gave public lectures as Professor of Law at Gresham College, London. He continues to give public lectures at the college, now as Visiting professor of Political History. He has published numerous books and articles. In 2003, he edited The British Constitution in the 20th Century (published by Oxford University Press to mark the centenary of the British Academy) and authored The New British Constitution (2009), which analyses constitutional changes under the Labour government since 1997.

Bogdanor is a signatory of the statement of principles of the Henry Jackson Society.

Comments

Bogdanor's most famous former student is David Cameron, who became Conservative Party leader and served as prime minister from 2010 to 2016. Bogdanor described Cameron as "one of the ablest" students he has taught, whose political views were "moderate and sensible Conservative". He has, however, expressed reservations about some of Cameron's policies, including his proposal for a British "Bill of Rights", about which Bogdanor said, "I believe it's ill thought-out and confused.... He [Cameron] may have forgotten some of the things I've taught him. I'd be happy to give him a few more tutorials on civil liberties."

Bogdanor referred to the arrest, search and questioning of the Conservative MP Damian Green, for aiding and abetting misconduct in public office by police from Special Branch, as "a storm in a teacup". "The important principle is that MPs - apart from when they're speaking in the chamber and dealing with constituents' correspondence - are subject to the same laws as the rest of us."

In 2017 Bogdanor supported a second referendum for Brexit on the contents of a final deal, saying that "Brexiters can hardly deny to their opponents the same democratic right that they claim for themselves, unless they secretly fear that the British public has, in fact, had second thoughts". However, by 2019 he had reversed his position, writing that "it has now become clear that a further referendum is not only impractical but could prove dangerous to the cohesion of the country" because it "would give rise to a dangerous narrative of betrayal amongst Leave voters which would be harmful to the democratic spirit".

In a 2021 column for The Daily Telegraph, Bogdanor decried the European Commission member Maroš Šefčovič's remark that the EU's patience with the UK was "wearing very, very thin" with regard to British implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol; Bogdanor said the comment was "reminiscent of that of the dictators of the 1930s."

Bogdanor supports the British monarchy and the adoption of proportional representation.

Personal life

Bogdanor married Judith Evelyn Beckett in 1972; the marriage was dissolved in 2000. In August 2009 he married Sonia Margaret Robertson.

Notable former students

In addition to David Cameron, Bogdanor's former students include Kate Allen, Camilla Cavendish, Diane Coyle, Antonia Romeo, Guy Spier and Toby Young.