He received a BSc. (Hons) in Politics from Plymouth (spending a semester at the University of Economics, Prague), and an MA in Comparative Politics from York. He recieved his Ph.D. from the University of Warwick in 2003 on the subject of exchange rate policy-making, with particular reference to Britain's membership of the gold standard during the interwar period. He worked as a lecturer in British Politics at the University of Birmingham from 2003-2005, and is currently the Director of Undergraduate Studies for PaIS. He is also a founder and Co-Executive Editor of British Politics.