Matthew Qvortrup is currently professor of political science at Coventry University's Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations. and also holds the James Walston Chair of International Relations at the American University of Rome. He is an expert on comparative constitutional engineering and European politics. He was educated at the University of Oxford and the London College of Law and has written for Bloomberg Businessweek, The Guardian and The Times. He also appears as a regular commentator for the BBC, on both radio and television.  He is the author of Angela Merkel: Europe's Most Influential Leader (Duckworth and Overlook, 2016, updated edition 2020).