Melanie’s Journey to Empower Disabled Voices in Politics

Melanie Kennedy was born with cerebral palsy, and due to her disability, she found herself experiencing many issues when trying to access education, public services and the necessary support she needed. “I wanted to make a difference and bring awareness to the experiences of disabled people in their daily lives”, Melanie said.

Melanie wanted to pursue a career in politics to fight for the rights of disabled people, although she was uncertain to do so. It was then when she decided that the BA (Hons) Politics, Philosophy and Society course at the University of Central Lancashire was going to aid her in developing the skills she needed.

During her time on the course, Melanie was felt fortunate enough to find “a great disability community in the Disabled Students’ Society” where she was surrounded by “people who seemed to understand” her. Some other lasting memories of her time at the University include getting an opportunity to study abroad, alongside the undeniable level of support she received from her lecturers. “It felt like they were actively invested in getting me towards my career goals”, Melanie said.

After graduating from her course, Melanie went on to complete her Masters in Disability Studies at Liverpool Hope University and then began her PhD in Politics at the University of Liverpool, researching voter perceptions of disabled political candidates.

In December 2023, Melanie secured her current role as a Researcher for The Disability Policy Centre, the first disability politics think-tank in the UK. Melanie’s main duties include researching and writing reports and currently she is leading a part of their ‘Accessible Voting’ project.

Melanie is proud to have accomplished many things since her time at the University of Central Lancashire. Earlier this year, Melanie played a leading part in the data collection and writing process of a Disability Policy Centre report on disabled representation in the new Parliament. “That was a huge moment for me, because the research was out there, and people were reading it. It was mentioned in newspaper articles and on the radio too, and that felt surreal”, she said. Some of Melanie’s other accomplishments include having her work published in several journals such as the ‘Canadian Journal of Disability Studies’ and the ‘Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies’.

If Melanie had any advice for prospective students, it’d be “don’t let rejections set you back – go ahead and try the next thing.

“Sometimes opportunities fall through, and that’s ok. Between being accepted on my current PhD course and job, I had plenty of rejections or had to decline opportunities because they weren’t the right fit for me. They can be difficult at the time, but they give you chance to pause and reflect as well.”