Standing§ 05
Policy evidence and academic leadership
Alongside published research, much of my work is commissioned, cited or heard by legislatures, funders and professional bodies. This page gathers the parliamentary and policy evidence, editorial and association roles, funded projects and doctoral work that sit behind the publication record.
Evidence § 05.1
Parliamentary and legislative evidence
Oral and written evidence given to committees in London, Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh and Brussels.
2025
Executive Review Committee
Northern Ireland Assembly · Institutional reform
Oral and written
2018, 2024
Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
House of Commons · Various aspects of democratic reform
Oral and written
2018
Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
House of Commons
Oral
2017
Committee on Constitutional Affairs
European Parliament · The implications of Brexit for Northern Ireland
Oral and written
2017
European Union Committee
House of Lords · Brexit: devolution inquiry
Oral and written
2017
Defence Committee
House of Commons · Public attitudes towards amnesties, truth, reconciliation and the identification and treatment of victims in Northern Ireland
Written
2016
Joint House of Commons and House of Lords committee
UK Parliament · Youth political engagement and the age of the franchise
Written
2010
Dáil Éireann Constitutional Committee
Oireachtas · Votes at 16
Oral and written
—
Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement
Oireachtas
Oral and written
—
Commission on electoral reform (Arbuthnott Commission)
Scottish Parliament
Oral and written
Leadership § 05.2
Editorial, association and institutional roles
2010–2024
Principal Investigator, ESRC Northern Ireland General Election studies
Five successive general election surveys.
2016–
REF outputs coordinator, University of Liverpool
REF 2029
Assessment-phase member, Politics and International Studies sub-panel, Research Excellence Framework
Official REF 2029 appointment.
REF 2014
Assessment-phase member, Politics and International Studies sub-panel, Research Excellence Framework
REF 2021
Deputy Chair, Politics sub-panel, Research Excellence Framework
2022–
International Advisory Board, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations
2011–
Editorial Board, Irish Political Studies
Co-editor, 2003–07.
2014–
Editorial Board, Irish Studies in International Affairs
2025–
Founding Fellow (FPSA), Political Studies Association of the UK
One of twelve founding fellowships awarded at the Association’s 75th anniversary.
2005–2007
Vice-President, Political Studies Association of the UK
2016–2018
President, British Politics Group, American Political Science Association
Executive member, 2014–16 and 2021–23.
2012–2022
Co-editor, Parliamentary Affairs
Associate Editor, 2003–11.
2008–2009
Chair, Youth Citizenship Commission
Appointed by the Prime Minister.
2008–2011
President, Political Studies Association of the UK
Chair, 2005–08.
2007–2010
Head of School of Politics and Communication Studies, University of Liverpool
—
Committee member, Analysing and Researching Ireland, North and South (ARINS)
2006–2007
Visiting Professor, Social and Policy Research Institute, University of Ulster
2003
Visiting Scholar, St John’s College, University of Oxford
Recognition § 05.3
Prizes and honours
2026
Pippa Norris Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Research
Political Studies Association · For the Northern Ireland General Election study.
2024
Sir Isaiah Berlin Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Political Studies
Political Studies Association
2024
Best article published in the journal
Irish Political Studies · For ‘Beyond Unionism and Nationalism: do the “neithers” want a border poll and a United Ireland?’
2015
Choice Outstanding Academic Title
American Library Association · For Comparative Peace Processes.
2014
Brian Farrell Prize for best book of the year
Political Studies Association of Ireland · For The Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland: From Protest to Power.
2012
Best research publication of the year
Children’s Identity and Citizenship European Association
2012
Civic Contribution Award
University of Liverpool
2010
Brian Farrell Prize for best book of the year
Political Studies Association of Ireland · For Abandoning Historical Conflict? Former Political Prisoners and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland.
2004
Elected to the Academy of Social Sciences
Academy of Social Sciences
1997
Bernard Crick Prize for Outstanding Teaching
Political Studies Association of the UK
Funding § 05.4
Research funding
Over £1.8 million awarded
Award values are as recorded in Professor Tonge's own curriculum vitae; funder and dates are corroborated by his University of Liverpool profile. PI = Principal Investigator, CI = Co-Investigator.
2024–2025
The 2024 Northern Ireland General Election Survey
Economic and Social Research Council · Principal Investigator
£353,000
2021–2023
Beyond Unionism and Nationalism in Northern Ireland: electors, voters and party members
Economic and Social Research Council · Principal Investigator
£402,000
2021–2022
A membership survey of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
British Academy · Principal Investigator
£7,900
2019–2020
The 2019 Northern Ireland General Election Survey
Economic and Social Research Council · Principal Investigator
£78,000
2018–2020
An evaluation of historical and contemporary debates on lowering the voting age
Leverhulme Trust · Principal Investigator
£119,980
2017–2018
The 2017 Northern Ireland General Election Survey
Economic and Social Research Council · Principal Investigator
£51,215
2015–2016
The 2015 Northern Ireland General Election Survey
Economic and Social Research Council · Principal Investigator
£202,000
2013–2014
A theoretical and empirical analysis of dissident republicanism in Northern Ireland
Economic and Social Research Council · Principal Investigator
£289,000
2012–2014
A membership survey of the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland
Leverhulme Trust · Principal Investigator
£88,296
2010
The 2010 Northern Ireland General Election Survey
Economic and Social Research Council · Principal Investigator
£96,997
2006–2008
Abandoning the past? Former paramilitary prisoners in Northern Ireland
Leverhulme Trust · Co-Investigator
£78,745
2006–2008
A survey of the social and political attitudes of Orange Order members in Northern Ireland
Economic and Social Research Council · Co-Investigator
£53,435
2001
Third tradition(s) in Northern Ireland: the Alliance Party surveyed
Economic and Social Research Council · Principal Investigator
£10,850
2000–2001
The role of ‘extra-constitutional’ parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly
Economic and Social Research Council · Principal Investigator
£15,051
1998–2000
The new nationalism in Northern Ireland
Economic and Social Research Council · Principal Investigator
£34,883
Conference and travel awards
£200
American Political Science Association
‘Spoiler Group Theory and Dissident Irish Republicanism’, APSA Annual Conference, Washington DC, August 2014.
£500 + £400
British Academy and American Political Science Association
‘The First Casualty of the End of Conflict? The Death of Class Politics in Northern Ireland’, APSA Annual Conference, Toronto, September 2009.
£1,425
British Academy
Irish Protestant Traditions conference, University of Salford, September 2005.
£490
British Academy
‘Divisions within the Ulster Unionist Party: the Problems of Managing a Movement not a Party’, APSA Annual Conference, Philadelphia, August 2003.
£4,800
ESRC and others
EPOP Annual Conference, University of Salford, 2002, with awards from the McDougall Trust and the ESRC Future Governance and Devolution and Constitutional Change programmes.
£1,000
European Commission
Seminar series, Understanding the Peace Process in Ireland, 1996.
£1,000
Ireland Fund of Great Britain
Seminar series, Understanding the Peace Process in Ireland, and study tour to Northern Ireland, 1996.
Doctoral § 05.5
Doctoral supervision and examining
9 completed doctorates supervised, and 32 theses examined at other universities.
Completed supervisions
2019
Sean Haughey
The intra- and extra-parliamentary behaviour of Members of the Legislative Assembly in Northern Ireland
2018
Andrew McCaldon
Sectarianism, seepage and secularism: the decline of the Orange Order in Northern Ireland, 1972–2012
2015
Keith Roberts
The decline of sectarianism on Merseyside
2013
Sophie Whiting
Is it still about the split? Dissident Irish republicanism, 1986–2010 · Winner, Political Studies Association Arthur McDougall best PhD prize.
2011
Alex Cooke
Can Sinn Féin policy still be considered republican?
2006
Andy Mycock
Post-imperial citizenship and national identity
2004
Catherine McGlynn
The political identity of new loyalism · ESRC funded. Nominated for the PSA McDougall prize for best PhD thesis on representation.
2004
Penny Pardoe
The development of new nationalism in Northern Ireland: Sinn Féin–SDLP convergence explored · Funded by the British Association of Irish Studies.
2002
Chris Gilligan
Identity as a concept for understanding the peace process
External examining
2026
Louisa Barry — Dublin City University
Stuck in the centre with you: navigating identity and constitutionality among Alliance and Green Party activists in Northern Ireland
2026
Lucia Piani — Ulster University
Assemblage and fragmentation in Irish republican political development, 1969–1986
2026
Leo Green — Ulster University
Consociationalism – a false dawn? An examination of the capacity of consociational power-sharing to effect rights-based social transformation in conflicted societies
2025
April Ward — University of Lincoln
Anticipation and imagined futures in peace processes
2024
Conor Kelly — Birkbeck, University of London
Dividing lines: explaining Sinn Féin, DUP and UUP stances on Europe
2024
Mylie Brennan — Queen’s University Belfast
Political identities amongst the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement generation in Northern Ireland
2023
Jack Armstrong — Queen’s University Belfast
Vote transfers in Northern Ireland, 1973–2022
2018
Annabelle De Heus — University of Nottingham
A social identity analysis of dissident republicanism in Northern Ireland
2018
Daniel Kirkpatrick — University of Kent
Transforming criminalisation
2018
David Jeffery — Queen Mary University of London
The decline of the Conservative Party in Liverpool
2017
Kevin McNicholl — Queen’s University Belfast
Northern Irish identity
2017
Cera Murtagh — University of Edinburgh
Centre ground parties in Northern Ireland and Bosnia-Herzegovina
2016
Jan Robert Schulz — University of Manchester
A Girardian approach to commemoration in Northern Ireland
2016
Stephen Hopkins — University of Leicester
The politics of memoir in Northern Ireland (by publications)
2015
Claire Pierson — University of Ulster
Women’s experiences of (in)security and policing in post-Agreement Northern Ireland
2014
Neil Matthews — Queen’s University Belfast
Intra-party democracy in Northern Ireland: selecting leaders, candidates and policy
2014
Emily Rainsford — University of Southampton
The nature of youth activism: exploring young people who are politically active in different institutional settings
2013
Ian McCutcheon — Queen’s University Belfast
The roles of politically motivated ex-prisoners in civil society in Northern Ireland and South Africa
2012
Susan McDermott — University College Dublin
The evolution of Fine Gael policy on Northern Ireland
2011
Orna Brennan — Queen’s University Belfast
Social capital and peace building in North Belfast
2008
David Hyland Mitchell — University of Ulster
Winning the peace in Northern Ireland: political parties and the implementation of the 1998 Agreement
2007
Jonathan Harris — Queen’s University Belfast
The British government and the Sunningdale Agreement
2007
Milena Komorova — Queen’s University Belfast
‘You have a future in this society’: discourses on peace-building in Northern Ireland
2007
Albert Hughes — Queen’s University Belfast
The Council of Ireland: a political and historical analysis
2006
Aaron Edwards — Queen’s University Belfast
Labour politics and sectarianism: interpreting the political fortunes of the Northern Ireland Labour Party since 1945
2006
Susan Hogan — University of Huddersfield
From righteousness to reason? An analysis of loyalist discourses in the wake of the peace process
2004
Gary McGladdery — University of Ulster
Terrorising the heartland: the Provisional IRA campaign in England, 1973–97
2003
Eddie Cornock — Open University
The development of the Scottish Socialist Party
2003
Sean McGough — University of Birmingham
British policy in Ireland, 1921–1985
2002
Sally Watson — Lancaster University
The transformation of Irish republicanism since 1981
2002
Clodagh Harris — University College Cork
The evolution of consociationalism in Northern Ireland
2002
John Coakley — National University of Ireland (University College Dublin)
DLitt by publications
Service § 05.6
Refereeing and external examining
Journals
Electoral Studies, Political Studies, European Journal of Political Research, American Political Science Review, Global Review of Ethnopolitics, British Journal of Political Science, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Government and Opposition, Irish Political Studies, Nations and Nationalism, Urban Studies, Politics, Canadian Journal of History, Social Movement Studies, Party Politics, Conflict and Cooperation, Parliamentary Affairs, Terrorism and Political Violence.
Publishers
Blackwell, Longman, Manchester University Press, Oxford University Press, Palgrave, Pearson, Pluto, Routledge.
Funding bodies
Economic and Social Research Council, the British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Government of Ireland Fellowship Scheme and the Fulbright Trust.
Undergraduate and postgraduate external examinerships
2014–2017
University of Manchester
2011–2013
University College Cork
2005–2009
Liverpool John Moores University
2005–2008
Queen’s University Belfast
2002–2005
University of Strathclyde
2001–2005
University of Hull
2000–2003
Edge Hill University College
1998–2001
Leeds Metropolitan University