He was until August 2017 a professor at the University of Manchester and held the Chair of Government in the School of Social Sciences.
Colin Talbot has had an unconventional career, leaving school at 16 and working in various jobs before enrolling for an economics and social sciences degree course at Manchester University at the age of 21[citation needed].
He did not obtain a degree, instead becoming involved in student politics at Manchester University at the time.
[1] Talbot held posts at British Telecom and in local government in London.
His personal blog is called "Public Investigations" https://colinrtalbot.wordpress.com/ and he also edits the Cambridge Policy Lab blogsite https://cambridgepolicylab.org/ Talbot has acted as advisor and consultant to public organisations in the UK and internationally.