Greater London, England, United Kingdom
My latest book is Sharks and Dolphins: A practical guide to understanding private/public sector partnering published by Bite-sized Books and available on Amazon (2026). This looks at cultural differences between the two sectors and how to overcome them thereby enabling positive and long-term relationships. My previous book was The Lost Decade: Britain from Bust to Brexit, which analyses why the UK voted to leave the EU and the link between the recession and the Leave vote, published by Palgrave Macmillan (2022). Before that was The Politics of Austerity: A Recent History (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) which looks at how the UK, the USA, the eurozone, the Baltic States, Canada and Sweden managed their public finances during economic downturns in the past 40 years. I am former editor of The MJ (Municipal Journal) and now editorial director of The MJ Group along with its other associated local government products and titles such as The MJ Awards, MJ Future Forum,mj.co.uk and Localgov, which are all part of the Hemming Group, publishers and event organisers. I am also a board director of Hemming Group Ltd. I have been writing and reporting about local government and the wider public sector for over 30 years and speak at and chair numerous public sector conferences. I distilled my experiences into my first book The Politics of Public Sector Reform from Thatcher to the Coalition, published in June 2013 by Palgrave Macmillan and available on Amazon and other sites. The book looks at how UK governments since 1979 have driven through reform, where it has worked and where it has not, and whether the public sector is in a fit state to face the next decades of rising demand and constrained budgets.
My latest book, 'From Broke to Brexit: Britain's Lost Decade (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) covers the turbulent last ten years. It is my third book, the last one being The Politics of Austerity: A Recent History (2016)In my day job I am editorial director of magazine publishers and event organisers the Hemming Group. My main focus is on its market-leading public sector titles, The MJ, the premier news and jobs weekly for local government, and its associated titles, Localgov,themj.co.uk, The MJ Awards, The MJ Future Forum events and associated round tables, online and offline. In short local government and the public sector is our key market sector and I frequently speak at and chair conferences on the subject. My principal task as editorial director is using my knowledge of the sector to develop new intelligence-based opportunities such as round tables, awards, joint ventures, seminars and forums, all of which are essential to protect and enhance our main brands. I also write regularly for The MJ (of which I was editor for many years), and tweet @MJMikeBurton