Tim Bale’s Blog- “End of the Brexit era? Burnham’s pivot back to Europe”, Anadolu Ajansı, 7 October 2026.
- “Burnham’s proposed electoral reform could have unpredictable effects”, LSE Blog, 6 October 2026.
- “The Keminaissance is a myth. The Tories are still like a weird uncle”, Bright Blue, 2 October.
- “Members of right‑leaning parties prefer leaders with ‘dark triad’ personality traits” (with Paul Webb and Stavroula Chrona), The Conversation, 18 September, 2026.
- “A fractured Union? Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland first ministers meeting”, Anadolu Ajansı, 17 September 2026.
- “Can’t you do it?”, Review of “Sunak at 10” by Anthony Seldon and Tom Egerton, Literary Review, 2 September 2026.
- “Hands off the constitution, Andy”, Unherd, 18 August 2026
- ‘Why Nigel Farage is resigning as an MP, only to stand again – expert analysis: Self-pity and self-obsession’, The Conversation, 7 July 2026.
- ‘There’s one thing that could revive Farage’s fortunes’, Independent, 29 June 2026.
- ‘Migration, Brexit, and Starmer’s exit: Inside Britain’s political meltdown’, Anadolu Agency, 23 June 2026
Author Archives: tpbale
Notes from the Tory fringe, where everyone is playing nicely – for now, The Conversation, 6 October 2015
Welcome to the Tory Party conference in Manchester – as ever a curious mix of the nerdy, the nutty, the nasty, and the nice and normal. The latter (apologies to anti-austerity protesters everywhere but it’s true) are in the majority. … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Boris Johnson, Conservative Party, David Cameron, George Osborne, Theresa May
Leave a comment
He has a beef with David Cameron, but who is Lord Ashcroft?, The Conversation, 23 September 2015
Britain is still reeling from the allegations that surfaced about the university antics of its prime minister, David Cameron. The claims, made in a forthcoming unauthorised biography of the PM, are the work of Conservative peer Michael Ashcroft and journalist … Continue reading
A look ahead to the 2016 Labour Party Conference, Speri, 17 September 2015
Ever since the BBC’s and LSE’s Bob McKenzie published his seminal work on British political parties back in 1955, we’ve known that Labour isn’t quite as democratic as it looks. Its leader, and those around him, has rather more say … Continue reading
Labour has moved outside the ‘zone of acceptability’, Prospect, 14 September 2015
Jeremy Corbyn’s victory has to be seen not only as a major advance for a Labour left that once looked entirely moribund. More worryingly for some, it also presents a huge opportunity to influence mainstream politics for much a harder, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Conservative Party, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour leader, Labour Party
Leave a comment
‘Just who are these Labour Party members who will be choosing the new leader?’ (with Paul Webb), Independent, 23 July 2015
Most of the coverage of Labour’s leadership contest has focused on the candidates. But what about the people who will be choosing between Corbyn, Burnham, Cooper and Kendall? In May 2015, we surveyed 1,180 Labour Party members as part of … Continue reading
‘The UK general election, 2015: Surprise! Or maybe not….’, Report for German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance (CPG), July 2015
One does not need to be a political scientist, let alone a rocket scientist, to know why, broadly speaking, the opposition Labour Party lost the election and why its rival, the Conservative Party, won a second term in office –this … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 2015 General election, Conservative Party, David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Labour Party
Leave a comment
‘Who will win the Labour leadership election? It’s a little early to tell’ (with Paul Webb) New Statesman, 22 June 2015
It’s doubtful that voters are paying that much attention to Labour’s leadership contest, but that hasn’t prevented pollsters from beginning to ask them who they think the party should pick. First out of the traps was Ipsos MORI. Its poll … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Andy Burnham, contest, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour leader, Labour leadership, Labour Party, Liz Kendall, party members, Yvette Cooper
Leave a comment
‘Only 15 per cent of Conservative party members would vote to leave the EU’ (with Paul Webb) Telegraph, 15 June 2015
Europe is already impinging, if only indirectly on Labour’s leadership contest. Andy Burnham in particular has suggested the party needs to be careful it doesn’t ‘do a Scotland’ by associating itself so closely with an all-party campaign that it ruins … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Conservative Party, David Cameron, EU, EU referendum, EU renegotiation, Europe, Euroscepticism, Labour Party, party members
Leave a comment
‘Fight or flight: On rationality and resilience in the Labour Party’, IPPR, 1 June 2015
‘Nobody knows anything … Not one person in the entire … field knows for a certainty what’s going to work. Every time out it’s a guess and, if you’re lucky, an educated one.’ So wrote the acclaimed screenwriter, William Goldman, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Andy Burnham, Labour, Leadership contest, Liz Kendall, Yvette Cooper
Leave a comment
‘Persuade the public, frighten the Tories and Labour could win again’, Observer, 24 May 2015
No one really knows who first declared that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”. But somebody should tell the LabourParty – and quickly. It is May 2010. Labour has just gone down to one … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
