Tim Bale’s Blog- ‘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
- ‘Brexit might just have killed the Conservative Party’, LSE Blog, 18 June 2026
- Electoral reform for the UK? Don’t bet on it, Financial Times, 3 June 2026.
- ‘Britain’s “ungovernable” decade’, Anadolu Ajansı, 21 May 2026.
- ‘Dumping Starmer won’t reverse Labour’s fortunes [unless….]’, New Statesman, 12 May 2026
- ‘Will Nigel Farage overtake the prime minister as the U-turn leader?’, Independent, 2 April 2026
- ‘Polarised and Powerful: Party Members in British Politics’, Political Insight, 18 March 2026.
- ‘Political treachery is a dangerous art. Streeting must perfect it if he wants to wear the crown’, Daily Telegraph, 16 February 2026.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
‘The two bloc polarisation of Britain’s voters and Party members’, LSE British Politics Blog, 2 February 2026.
The idea that the entire UK is engaged in, even consumed by, some kind of “culture war” is overblown. But there is no doubt that topics like Europe, immigration net zero, and the nation’s history (particularly with regard to its colonial … Continue reading
‘Ahead of seismic local elections, what we know about Reform’s ability to put boots on the ground for the campaign’, The Conversation, 20 January 2026
What we used to think of as Britain’s two main parties, Labour and the Conservatives, seem more than happy to postpone as many of this year’s upcoming local elections as possible. Labour insists the delays are needed because of ongoing local authority … Continue reading
‘Churchill’s defection didn’t kill the Tories. Robert Jenrick’s certainly won’t’, Daily Telegraph, 19 January 2026.
On May 31 1904, a high-profile MP defected from the Conservative Party and joined its main rival. Not everyone believed his claim to be driven by principle rather than personal ambition. Yet it took two years and an election that … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged churchill, defection, reform-uk, robert-jenrick, uk-politics
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‘The ten most surprising facts from the 2024 election revealed’, The Conversation, 15 December 2025.
1. Labour lost the campaign Labour won the election but its support fell a lot more than any other party’s during the campaign period. Labour started the campaign 25 percentage points ahead of the Conservatives and ended it just 15 points ahead. … Continue reading
‘Our survey of Green party members suggests Zack Polanski has the mandate to take his party in a more radical direction’, (with Paul Webb and Stavroula Chrona) The Conversation, 3 September 2025
Thanks to the media interest in his election as leader of the Green party of England and Wales, there’s now plenty of information available about Zack Polanski, the so-called “eco-populist” who won a landslide victory over his arguably more moderate rivals. … Continue reading
‘Even tactical voting will not help Labour survive a Tory-Reform pact’, Independent, 3 December 2025.
As the English philosopher RG Collingwood didn’t quite say, “the only clue to what a man can do is what a man has done”. Given that Nigel Farage denied he would do any kind of deal with Boris Johnson’s Conservatives – until, … Continue reading
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Tagged Conservative Party, Nigel Farage, reform-uk, uk-politics
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‘A Reform UK government isn’t inevitable’, Interview with LSE’s Joanna Bale (no relation!), 18 September 2025.
With Reform’s recent success in local elections and a parliamentary by-election, do you think we’re witnessing a temporary populist surge or the beginning of a longer-term realignment in British politics? I’m rather cautious about the idea of a realignment or, … Continue reading
The memoirs of a whip in love with his leaders’, Political Quarterly, 30 June 2025.
Ungovernable: The Political Diaries of a Chief Whip, by Simon Hart. Macmillan. 368 pp. £25.00 It is a truth universally acknowledged that any book purporting to be a revelatory insider account of contemporary British politics must be in want of a … Continue reading
‘Norman Tebbit carried a torch for a “true-blue” politics now embraced by Nigel Farage’, Independent, 8 July 2025
They say “never meet your heroes” – but meeting your antiheroes can be absolutely fascinating. At least, that was my experience when I met Norman Tebbit. How could it not have been? Already branded a “semi-house-trained polecat” as an opposition MP, once in … Continue reading
‘Why we need to halt “hard right” in its tracks’, The Loop, 10 July 2025.
Whatever passes for the centre right these days is in serious danger of being displaced or even replaced by the far right – most often by politicians whose questionable commitment to the checks and balances that characterise liberal democracy and … Continue reading
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