US Politics Today 2025 Conference
British Library, November 2025
The 2025 US Politics Today Conference – part of the long-running Congress to Campus scheme – was hosted on Monday 3 November and Friday 7 November by the Eccles Institute at the British Library. The event brought together four academic experts and two former members of the US Congress (FMCs).
In 2025 the academic speakers were: Professor Philip Davies (former Director of the Eccles Centre), Dr Josephine Harmon (Northeastern University, London), Dr Emma Long (University of East Anglia), and Professor Andrew Moran (London Metropolitan University). Their talks covered recent developments surrounding key areas covered by the Edexcel and AQA US Politics specifications: the US Congress, the Presidency, the US Supreme Court, and elections.
Each year the two FMCs represent both of the main US parties, and in November 2025 they were Jeff Duncan (former Republican US Representative from South Carolina’s 2nd District [2011-25]) and Mike Ross (former Democratic US Representative from Arkansas’ 4th District [2001–13]). Being two southerners, these FMCs perhaps unsurprisingly shared some more conservative social views than is often the case during this event – especially when it came to gun ownership and the morality of abortion, though they differed markedly on a variety of issues, leading to lively discussion and debate.
For the edited highlights of the event and links to related recordings, please see the PDF document available here – and many thanks to Philip Abraham from the Eccles Institute for the Americas (British Library) for arranging the event.