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The Ballot Box is a site dedicated to political analysis and discussion of contemporary issues across the globe. The site hosts articles from a variety of specialist guest commentators on a variety of topics.

James Downes and Joshua Townsley are the Co-Founders and Co-Editors of The Ballot Box. The site also receives regular contributions from Chris Hanley at Kantar Public who serves as a Co-Author and website editor.

The Ballot Box team:

Dr. James F. Downes



James is currently a Lecturer in Comparative Politics, in the Department of Government and Public Administration at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He teaches in courses on European Politics, Asian Comparative Politics and Research Methods. James also serves as Director of British & European Politics at the Think Tank Parliament Street. He is also a Visiting Researcher (Honorary) in European Politics at the Europe Asia Policy Centre for Comparative Research. Previously, he worked as a Tutor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at HKU, a Visiting Scholar at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and at the Brussels School of International Studies in Belgium. 

James has provided recent analysis to major news outlets such as the Hong Kong Economic Journal, France 24, Ming Pao, Democratic Audit and LSE EUROPP, the Times, the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce alongside Radio Television Hong Kong TV on topics such as the Migration Crisis in Europe, the rise of the far right, and Brexit, alongside election analysis on the recent UK, Dutch, French and German elections. He has also contributed to articles for YouGov (London) TNS opinion (Brussels) Parliament Street, Routledge (Contemporary China Series) and the European Union Academic Programme Hong Kong. For any media or consultancy enquiries, please contact me via email: jamesfdownes@cuhk.edu.hk



Joshua Townsley


Joshua is a Comparative Politics PhD researcher at the University of Kent, specialising in political campaigning and electoral politics. He joined the School of Politics and International Relations in 2015 and holds a Kent 50th Anniversary PhD Scholarship. Joshua completed a Masters by Research at the University of Nottingham, and a BSc in Politics with Economics at the University of Bath, where he received a First Class mark for his thesis. In addition, Joshua has undertaken statistics training at the Essex Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis on a British Academy Scholarship.

While at Nottingham, Joshua worked as a Research Assistant on the British Election Leaflet Project, coding campaign literature delivered by political parties during the 2010 and 2015 elections. He also authored a British Politics and General Election course for online training company, Filtered.com. Prior to this, Joshua worked at the European Parliament in Brussels and as a constituency caseworker for a Member of Parliament in Cambridge. 


Joshua’s field of research includes political campaigning, voting behaviour, and British politics. He has particular interest in Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) voter mobilisation methods, and in electioneering and campaign modes. His PhD research focuses on the changing nature of electioneering in Britain, preferences in campaign contact among voters, and the effectiveness of traditional, modern, and digital campaign modes.



Chris Hanley

The Ballot Box receives regular contributions from Chris Hanley, Group Leader at Kantar Public Brussels. Chris studied Political Science (First Class) at the University of Essex, specialising in quantitative political analysis whilst taking a keen interest in European and African political affairs. Upon graduating, Chris accepted a research position to work for TNS opinion in Brussels, the European hub for the global TNS network. In Brussels, Chris works on a variety of Eurobarometer projects alongside multi-national surveys commissioned by prestigious clients such as the European Central Bank and the European Commission.
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