Tim Bale’s Blog
- ‘Like it’s 1997? Major’s lot weren’t so pointless, poisonous or loathed’, Observer, 17 March 2024.
- ‘The fading promises of COP28’, QMUL, 26 February 2024.
- ‘Reform’s success is not the real story of the by-elections’, Financial Times, 16 February 2024
- ‘Tories’ worst nightmare is coming true as Reform threat proves real’, Daily Express, 16 February 2024
- ‘The plotters, the coup and Farage’s path to the Tory throne’, Daily Telegraph, 27 January 2024.
- ‘Europe is marching to the right. Can Keir Starmer carry the centre-left torch?’, Observer, 14 January 2024.
- ‘The Conservative Party’, UK in a Changing Europe, 5 December 2023.
- ‘The Tories have changed direction – but they may not be headed where you think’, Daily Telegraph, 18 November 2023.
- ‘Brexit and the “Merkel Myth”‘ (with Karl Pike), UK in a Changing Europe, 27 October 2023
- ‘Cricket fan Rishi should shun Right and hold out for a Geoff Boycott route to unlikely victory’, Evening Standard, 25 October 2023
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Recent Posts
- ‘Like it’s 1997? Major’s lot weren’t so pointless, poisonous or loathed’, Observer, 17 March 2024.
- ‘The fading promises of COP28’, QMUL, 26 February 2024.
- ‘Reform’s success is not the real story of the by-elections’, Financial Times, 16 February 2024
- ‘Tories’ worst nightmare is coming true as Reform threat proves real’, Daily Express, 16 February 2024
- ‘The plotters, the coup and Farage’s path to the Tory throne’, Daily Telegraph, 27 January 2024.
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Monthly Archives: November 2017
‘My secret plan to turn students against Brexit’, Politico, 26 October 2017.
My name is Tim Bale and I’m an academic. I’ve been abusing Brexit for nearly a year and a half now, and I just can’t seem to stop. Not a day goes by without me thinking about it, even if … Continue reading
‘Ten lessons for Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil from Tory election disaster’, Irish Times, 20 October 2017.
The dust might not have settled but the data is in. Thanks to research conducted by various pollsters, we have a pretty good idea of what happened and why in last June’s UK general election. And there are some relevant … Continue reading
‘Tim Bale: Inside Labour’s massive membership base’, LabourList, 6 October 2017,
People who join political parties are abnormal. Even if we take into account the phenomenal growth of Labour’s grassroots support since 2015, fewer than five per cent of British adults are party members. That doesn’t mean, of course, that people … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party, Labour Party members, party members
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‘OMG Britain’s Tories are SO OLD. Conservatives are right to be worried about their lack of popularity with young Brits’, Politico, 5 October 2017.
The Tories have an age problem. In June’s general election, some two-thirds of British voters aged 18-25 voted Labour. Only one in five voted Conservative. That’s got the party worried — and rightly so. Once upon a time, statistics like these were … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Andrea Leadsom, Conservative Party, Conservative Party members
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‘How the Tory party can solve its membership crisis, in three easy steps’, Guardian, 3 October 2017.
The Conservative party no longer seems capable of winning elections by a convincing margin. Nor does it attract as many members as its main rivals. Arguably, the two things are related. A successful campaign requires cash, as well as an attractive offer … Continue reading
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Tagged Conservative Party, Conservative Party members, Tories
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‘Is capitalism at a crossroads?’, Observer, 1 October 2017.
Seen from space, capitalism seems to be ticking along quite nicely. Globally, at least, the markets and growth they promote have pulled millions out of absolute poverty. Zoom in, though, and the picture is more worrying – and not only … Continue reading
‘Labour in Brighton: it’s not a cult, it’s too big for that now’, The Conversation, 27 September 2017.
If you’ve ever been to a party conference – maybe any conference actually – you’ll have experienced that disconcerting feeling you get when you walk out of the building it’s being held in and re-enter the real world. Sometimes the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Brighton, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party, Labour Party Conference, Labour Party members, Momentum
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‘The Tory temperament means a U-turn on Europe is always possible’, Financial Times, 27 September 2017.
The prime minister’s speech in Florence may well help, in the short term, to clear some of the obstacles that currently stand in the way of the UK’s departure from the EU in 2019. But here is a heretical thought: … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Brexit, Conservative Party, EU, Europe, Euroscepticism
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‘To me, golliwogs are racist – but a tearoom tangle and a new poll shows Britain disagrees’, The Conversation, 20 September 2017.
There is a café at the foot of the South Downs. On the wall hangs a golliwog. And that bothers me. So much so that, on discovering it a few weeks ago, I got into a heated argument with the … Continue reading
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‘Will Boris Johnson be the next Prime Minister – No’, City AM, 19 September 2017
Boris Johnson is a classicist. So was Machiavelli. And I’d say it was the Renaissance special adviser, rather than some ancient Greek or Roman, who provides the better clue to the foreign secretary’s behaviour in the last few days. Rather … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Boris Johnson, Conservative Party, Leadership contest
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