Tim Bale’s Blog- ‘Norman Tebbit carried a torch for a “true-blue” politics now embraced by Nigel Farage’, Independent, 8 July 2025
- ‘Why we need to halt “hard right” in its tracks’, The Loop, 10 July 2025.
- ‘Why are Tories suddenly in favour of proportional representation?’, The Independent, 25 June 2025.
- ‘London isn’t a Labour city any more — the three key questions that new polling raises’, The Standard, 24 June 2025.
- ‘Starmer’s immigrant rhetoric and politics of migration’, Anadolu, 23 May 2025.
- ‘Starmer’s winter fuel allowance “U-turn” sets him on a tricky path with backbenchers and voters’, The Conversation, 22 May 2025.
- ‘Nigel Farage has the crowd, but not the plan – and the clock is ticking’, LBC, 3 May 2025.
- ‘Under “Brexit Badenoch”, what is the future of the Conservative Party?’, The Independent, 26 April 2025.
- ‘Brexit and the Conservative Party’, UK in a Changing Europe, 25 April 2025.
- ‘Rachel Reeves needs to change the record’, Linkedin Pulse, 27 March 2025.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
‘UKIP shouldn’t be an option for any true conservative’, ConservativeHome, 29 May 2014
The Conservative Party only has itself to blame for the rise of UKIP – not because it ignored the pet peeves that drive Nigel Farage’s ‘people’s army’ but because, in the electorally-desperate early 2000s, it pushed the populist button itself … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged conservatism, Conservative Party, Edmund Burke, Populism, UKIP
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‘How do you solve a problem like…Nigel? What Austria can teach the Conservatives about dealing with UKIP’, LSE British Politics and Policy Blog, 27 May 2011
If UKIP manages to do even half as well at next year’s general election as it has evidently done this time, Britain’s mainstream parties are facing nothing less than a transformation in their competitive environment. Shielded for so long by … Continue reading
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Tagged Austria, ÖVP, Conservative Party, FPÖ, Freedom Party, radical right wing populist, UK, UKIP
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David Cameron’s next EU challenge: renegotiation, Telegraph, 26 May 2014
Tory MPs may have agreed not to panic in the light of Ukip’s big win, but that doesn’t mean David Cameron isn’t going to come under a huge amount of pressure from them in the coming days and weeks to do … Continue reading
The Conservatives will face many challenges after the votes are counted in the European Parliament election, LSE British Politics and Policy Blog, 9 May 2014
To say the Tories are unlikely to do as well in May 2014 as they did in June 2009 is a bit of an understatement. Five years ago they topped the poll, getting just under 4.2 million votes or nearly … Continue reading
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Tagged Alternative für Deutschland, Cameron, Conservative Party, ECR, Elections, European Parliament, MEPs, Merkel
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‘Are Tory activists weeding out “moderate” MPs?’, Political Studies Association Blog, 6 March, 2014 (with Paul Webb)
When two Conservative MPs were deselected in rapid succession by their local constituency associations, it marked to some a welcome assertion of grassroots rights and power. To others, it was no such thing. Instead the move was an inevitable consequence of … Continue reading
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Tagged Anne McIntosh, Conservative Party, deselection, grassroots, MPs, parliamentary candidates, selection, Tim Yeo, Tory
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‘David Cameron shouldn’t bank on Angela Merkel to sort out his EU issues’ Guardian, 26 February, 2014
Angela Merkel and David Cameron didn’t get off to the greatest of starts: one of his earliest decisions as party leader was to pull Conservative MEPs out of Merkel’s party’s group in the European parliament. But their relationship seems to have … Continue reading
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Tagged Britain. Conservatism, Cameron, CDU, Christian Democracy, Christian Democrats, Conservative Party, EU, Germany, Merkel
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‘Getting the populists’ message’, Policy Network, 20 February 2014
The power of populism lies principally in its appeal to our emotions, or so we’re often told. That may be true – but only up to a point. Focusing on populism’s emotional appeal allows us to forget that much of … Continue reading
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Tagged Europe, Mainstream response, Nigel Farage, Populism, UKIP
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‘Inside the Tory Mind’, Progress, 3 February 2014
The past often sheds light on the present, either by throwing up stark contrasts or by revealing eerie similarities. Stuart Ball’s book, Portrait of a Party: The Conservative Party in Britain 1918-1945, which came out last year, provides plenty of … Continue reading
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Tagged Conservative, David Cameron, Margaret Thatcher, MPs, Parliament, right-wing, Tory
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‘Tim Yeo’s deselection: Is this the start of a Tory Spring?’ Telegraph, 5 February, 2014
The result of the ballot of local members was decisive. After a long and bloody deselection battle with his constituency association, the sitting MP had to admit defeat. Tim Yeo, Suffolk South, February 2014? No. Nigel Nicholson, Bournemouth East, 45 … Continue reading
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