Staff profile

Ben’s research interests centre around the work of the executive and legislative branches, the role of officials within them, and the maintenance of ideals in the grubbiness of organisation.

Ben joined Durham Law School as an Associate Professor in Public Law and Human Rights in September 2019. He obtained his PhD from the LSE, and LLM from Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand). He previously worked at the Constitution Unit, UCL and was a Teaching Fellow in Public Law at UCL. Ben also worked at the UK Ministry of Justice in 2010 on the UK Cabinet Manual. Prior to joining Durham, Ben was a lecturer in public law at Queen Mary and then at the University of Hull Law School.

Ben has worked on a number of areas, including coalition government, special advisers, legislative governance (how legislatures are run), government lawyers and currently parliamentary lawyers. In 2016 Ben was awarded a Leverhulme Trust research grant to carry out an 18 month project examining the provision and reception of legal advice in the 4 legislatures of the UK.

Ben's current research projects include the impartiality of parliamentary officials; an examination of legislative budget-making; legislative governance and parliamentary administration. With Alexander Horne and Louise Thompson, Ben was editor of the third edition of Parliament and the Law, which has just been published. He is editing a book with Patrick O’Brien on Leading Works in Public Law. He has just been awarded an 18 month Leverhulme research grant to examine parliamentary administration in the 4 legislatures of the UK; and he is also currently co-investigator with Patrick O'Brien on a British Academy small grant project examining the work of judges after they retire.

In spite of the grisly profile picture, Ben has a pretty moderate disposition.

• Non-judicial institutions: executives and legislatures
• Bureaucracy and bureaucratic norms
• Sociolegal research
• Public sector lawyers
• Parliamentary administration

• Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences
• Human Rights Centre

Authored book

• Yong, Ben & Hazell, Robert (2014). Special Advisers: Who They Are, What They Do and Why They Matter. Hart Publishing.
• Hazell, Robert & Yong, Ben (2012). The Politics of Coalition: How the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Works. Hart Publishing.

Chapter in book

• Yong, Ben (2022). The Politics of Legal Expertise at Westminster in Times of Crisis. In Legal Expertise in EU Policy-Making: Changing Roles for the Legal Profession. Korkea-aho, Emilia & Leino, Päivi Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 124-146.
• Lee, Colin & Yong, Ben (2022). Paying for Parliament. In Parliament and the Law. Horne, Alexander, Thompson, Louise & Yong, Ben Hart Publishing. 57-86.
• Yong, Ben (2022). Ministerial Responsibility. In Constitution and Governance in the UK. UK in a Changing Europe.
• Yong, Ben & Thompson, Louise (2019). What do we mean by parliamentary scrutiny of Brexit? A view from the House of Commons. In Brexit and Democracy: The Role of Parliaments and Citizens. Christiansen, Thomas & Fromage, Diane Palgrave Macmillan.
• Yong, Ben (2018). The Governance of Parliament. In Parliament and the Law. Horne, Alexander & Drewry, Gavin Hart Publishing. 75–102.
• Yong, B & Petit, S (2018). The administrative organization and governance of Parliament. In Exploring Parliament. Leston-Bandeira, C & Thompson, L Oxford University Press.
• Yong, B (2016). Britain's experience of coalition government: continuity and change. In Developments in British Politics. Palgrave Macmillan. 20-38.

Edited book

• Horne, Alexander, Thompson, Louise & Yong, Ben (2022). Parliament and the Law. Hart Studies in Constitutional Law. Hart Publishing.

Journal Article

• Yong, Ben, Davies, Greg & Leston‐Bandeira, Cristina (2019). Tacticians, Stewards, and Professionals: The Politics of Publishing Select Committee Legal Advice. Journal of Law and Society 46(3): 367-395.
• Yong, Ben & Bale, Tim (2015). When Second-Best is Still a No-Brainer: Why Labour Should Shoot for a Majority Coalition in May 2015. The Political Quarterly 86(1): 133.

Report

• Yong, Ben (2013). Risk Management: Government Lawyers and the Provision of Legal Advice within Whitehall. Constitution Unit/ Constitution Society.
• Yong, Ben & Hazell, Robert (2011). Putting the Goats Amongst the Wolves: Appointing Ministers from outside Parliament. Constitution Unit.