Dr Nigel Fletcher is the co-founder and Research Director of the Centre for Opposition Studies, and teaches Politics and Contemporary British History at King's College London. Born in Portsmouth, he graduated from Queen Mary, University of London, and was awarded the Professor Lord Smith Prize for his dissertation on the role of the opposition. He also worked in politics for many years, as a researcher in parliament and at the London Assembly, and as a Special Adviser to the Conservative Party in opposition between 2004 and 2008, working for senior politicians including David Cameron and Boris Johnson. He also served as a Councillor in the Royal Borough of Greenwich for a total of 13 years, first being elected in 2005, and eventually rising to become Leader of the Opposition. Alongside his academic writing and teaching, Nigel appears regularly in the media providing commentary and analysis on current and historic political issues. He lives with his husband in Eltham, South East London.