Dr Elliott Johnson

VC Fellow

Department: Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing

Elliott is a Vice Chancellor's Fellow in Public Policy at Northumbria University. He serves on Northumbria's Disability Equality Steering Group and on the Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing's (SWECW) Ethics Review College while leading SWECW's Disability, Neurodiversity, Mental Distress and Lived Experience Expert Group. He is also Impact Lead for the Common Sense Policy Group and co-ordinated work within SWECW to publish the underpinning research produced by the Group's Beveridge-style transformative public policy platform, Act Now.

Elliott's work focuses on inequalities and social determinants of health, particularly the impact of work and welfare and especially in relation to disabled people. This includes understanding health impact, economic feasibility, public acceptability and the development of narratives capable of persuading opponents of evidence-based policy. A core project within this has been his examination of the public health case for Basic Income. His work has often depended on deploying innovative research and communication methods to include and amplify the voices of underrepresented groups. This has been supported by more than £1.4m in research funding.

Previously a research leader in the third sector, his work across academia, public and third sectors has achieved impact by creating sector-wide standards, shaping organisational approaches and influencing national policy. In the third sector, he used his Activity Trap report – which identified a fear among a large proportion of disabled people of being more active in case they were to lose disability benefits – to create policy proposals and lobby Government with national partners to remove such disincentives. This and subsequent work has led to his being invited to Government roundtables to provide evidence on disability benefits policy.

His work has been covered by the Guardian, Independent, Times, Telegraph, Spectator, FT, BBC, Sky News, Channel 4 News, ITV News, Channel 5 News, CNBC and TIME. He provided 2024 UK General Election analysis for BBC Radio Newcastle and Tees both on the night and the following day.

Email Elliott

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Elliott's primary research interest is the social determinants of health, and the public policy means of addressing them. Much of his work has focused on work and welfare, particularly Basic Income, and especially in relation to disabled people. Specifically, his work examines the following areas:

Health impact
Economic feasibility
Public acceptability
Narratives to ‘sell’ the policy
Additional needs, including those of disabled people

He also has broader expertise on inclusion, disability and inclusive physical activity.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Anxiety, insecurity and redistribution in the UK ‘red wall’: have policy preferences changed since the COVID-19 pandemic?, Stark, G., Johnson, E., Ahmed, Z., Kamalakannan, S., Reed, H., Flinders, M., Nettle, D., Johnson, M., Degerman, D. 1 May 2025, In: International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society
Basic Income for Greater Manchester: Plans for a feasible, affordable and popular pilot, Hawdale, A., Strappazzon, L., Douglas, J., Johnson, E., Duffy, S., Mermelstein, D., Stark, G., Reed, H., Nettle, D., Johnson, M. 10 Feb 2025
Climate change mitigation and workers’ interests: why framing a Green New Deal as redistributive and security-enhancing is key to popularity, Ardron, K., Stark, G., Meller, S., Reed, H., Johnson, M., Johnson, E. 7 Apr 2025, In: F1000Research
Count the Costs: A Common Sense Update for the 2025 Spring Statement, Reed, H., Thew, A., Stark, G., Nettle, D., Johnson, M., Johnson, E. 27 Mar 2025
Designing basic income pilots for community development: what are the key community concerns? Evidence from citizen engagement in Northern England, Howard, N., Gregory, G., Johnson, E., Goodman, C., Coates, J., Robson, I., Pickett, K., Johnson, M. 2 Jan 2025, In: Local Development and Society
Does food insecurity cause anxiety and depression? Evidence from the Changing Cost of Living Study, Bateson, M., Chevallier, C., Johnson, E., Johnson, M., Pickett, K., Nettle, D. 14 Feb 2025
Examining the relationship between income and both mental and physical health among adults in the UK: Analysis of 12 waves (2009-2022) of Understanding Society, Reed, H., Nettle, D., Parra Mujica, F., Stark, G., Wilkinson, R., Johnson, M., Johnson, E. 6 Mar 2025, In: PLoS One
Make Politics Work for Us: A Common Sense pathway to democracy that delivers, Johnson, E., Neal, C., Stark, G., Duffy, S., Robson, I., Reed, H., Meehan, P., Warnock, C., Atkinson, J., Nettle, D., Johnson, M. 16 Jan 2025
Reform, be bold and get your messages across, Johnson, M., Johnson, E. 23 Jan 2025
Rethinking Englishness: deep historical analysis of working-class forms emphasises the importance of redistribution for the left, Johnson, M., Johnson, E., Winlow, S. 14 Apr 2025, In: Routledge Open Research

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Other: Expert comment: German experiment gave people a basic monthly income - the effect on their work ethic was surprising 2025
Participating in a conference, workshop, ...: Health and disability benefits reform roundtable hosted by Minister of State for Social Security and Disability 2025
Participating in a conference, workshop, ...: Health and disability benefits reform roundtable hosted by Minister of State for Social Security and Disability 2024
Other: Interview on Act Now for The Herald 2024
Oral presentation: Act Now Book Launch 2024
Invited talk: Universal Basic Income and health – strong support and distinctive concerns from a deprived community in NE England 2023
Invited talk: What are the impacts of universal basic income on mental health? A microsimulation economic modelling study 2023
Invited talk: Winning the Vote with Universal Basic Income: Lessons for Progressive Politicians 2022