Richard joined The Open University in 1999 and is currently Interim Head of the Department of Politics & International Studies (POLIS). Richard has worked on a number of OU modules, is currently the chair of DD211 Understanding Politics: Ideas and institutions in the Modern World, and editor of and contributor to the well-established undergraduate British politics textbook, Developments in British Politics (Palgrave Macmillan 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 and 2016). He researches in the field of comparative politics and specialises in British politics.