Dr Stephen Ward
School of Arts, Media and Creative Technologies
Current positions
Associate Professor/Reader
Biography
Stephen Ward is a Reader in Politics and Subject Head of the Politics and Contemporary History Group at Salford. He originally studied at the University Warwick, London School of Economics and the University of West of England and has previously worked at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne before joining Salford in 1995. Having gone away to work at the Oxford Internet Institute, University Oxford, in 2005, he returned to Salford in 2009.
His main research interests include: internet and politics, political participation and political campaigning. He has taught on a variety of British and comparative European politics modules along with specialist modules in political communication and politics and social media and has over 70 research publications mainly in the field of media and political communications. Selected recent publications include:
(2025) 'Fact or Fiction? Representations of Intelligence Agencies in the UK Press' Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence [forthcoming] with Dan Lomas
(2022) 'Still in the Dark? UK Public Attitudes Towards Intelligence Agencies' RUSI Journal with Dan Lomas.
(2021) "Digital Partisanship". In Ahlbom, J. et al (eds) Political Partisanship Handbook, Springer Press: London. With Rachel Gibson.
(2020) 'From Bad to Worse? The Media and the 2019 Election Campaign', Parliamentary Affairs, 73, (1), pp. 272–287. With Dominic Wring.
(2020) ‘Turds Traitors and Tossers: The Abuse of MPs on Twitter’. Journal of Legislative Studies, 26(1): 47-73. with Liam McLoughlin.
Areas of Research
My main areas of research relate to: (1) the internet/social media and politics in particular online political participation, parties and campaigning along with issues around incivility and abuse online (2) public perceptions of intelligence agencies including both media representations of intelligence and public trust in intelligence organisations.
I teach a range of modules focused on British politics and political history and more specialist modules on political communication and social media and politics
Qualifications
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PhD
1990 - 1994 -
MSc Government and Politics of Western Europe
1986 - 1987 -
BA (Hons) Politics
1983 - 1986