John Kingdom has taught politics and public administration at the universities of Exeter and Sheffield. He is currently a visiting fellow at Sheffield Hallam University. His other publications include The Civil Service in Liberal Democracies, Local Government and Politics in Britain, No Such Thing as Society, contributions to edited collections and various articles. The first edition of his Government and Politics in Britain was awarded the Politics Association book prize.

Paul Fairclough is deputy head (sixth form) at Sedbergh School, having worked as a head of politics for more than two decades; most recently at Wellington College. He has authored a wide range of books and articles, whilst also co-authoring the UK Government & Politics Annual Update and AS UK Government & Politics for Philip Allan Updates. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors.