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
‘Picking up on populism: playing with fire, or putting out the flames?’, Policy Network, 15 January 2014
The centre-left is still missing a popular critique, particularly on the economy. Picking up on populism may be playing with fire but, done carefully and, dare one say, responsibly, it could very well do social democrats more good than harm … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Centre-left, Cooper, economy, Farage, immigration, Labour, Miliband, Populism
Leave a comment
Four reasons Ed Miliband is still a good opposition leader, Guardian, 16 January 2014
Ed Miliband’s numbers are bad – so bad that apparently anyone presenting on polling to the shadow cabinet isn’t allowed to talk about them. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s doing a bad job as Labour leader. Nor does it mean his … Continue reading
Alan Bown’s Ukip polling only tells half the story, Telegraph, 18 December 2013
I’m not entirely sure how Ukip’s latest sugar-daddy, Alan Bown, has chosen the constituencies in which he’s commissioned polls, but they were presumably picked because they’re easily portrayed as precisely the sort of seats the Tories need to hold on … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Alan Bown, Cameron, Conservatives, Polling, Tories, UKIP
Leave a comment
How the countryside could lose David Cameron the 2015 general election, Telegraph, 1 November 2013
Quite how they conducted their poll, I’m not sure – they never got back to me.* But the Countryside Alliance is claiming that around a fifth of its members have fallen out of love with the Conservatives. And not just because … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Conservative Party, Countryside Alliance, David Cameron, election, hunting, Vote-OK
Leave a comment
Get a sense of humour: the Tories and Coalition, Spectator, 5 October 2013
Like so many pundits before me, I had earnestly hoped never to begin a piece on coalitions by quoting Disraeli. But since I was asked by Bright Blue and the Electoral Reform Society to join Mrs Bone’s husband, as well … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Cameron, Clegg, Coalition, Conservatives, Lib Dems, membership
Leave a comment
What was the point of the party conferences? The Conversation, 2 October 2013
“War – huh. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing”, sang Edwin Starr back in the sixties. Most people say the same about party conferences. They take up half a week. They cost a fortune. They don’t actually decide anything important, especially … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
For his speech, David Cameron will surely lean on ethos, pathos and logos, Guardian, 2 October 2013
The pressure is on. David Cameron’s closing speech to his party’s conference will be his eighth as Tory leader, and his MPs and grassroots supporters are hoping that he can top Ed Miliband’s effort in Brighton last week. While they are bound to be … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Aristotle, Conference, Conservative Party, David Cameron, Oratory, Rhetoric, Speech
Leave a comment
What happened to Tory modernisation, Telegraph, 30 September 2013
As David Cameron finally delivers on his promise to recognise marriage in the tax system and announces yet more action on immigration and welfare, it seems like a good time to ask whether – despite the valiant efforts of commentators … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Conservative Party, David Cameron, Francis Maude, modernisation, modernisers, Nick Boles, Tory
Leave a comment
Cameron and the Conservatives: a start of term report, PSA Blog, 27 September, 2013
Assurances over the summer that David Cameron was well on the way to healing relations with some of his backbenchers (via a combination of Number Ten BBQs, economic recovery and the PM’s support for the EU Referendum Bill) look a little optimistic … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Conservatives, cost of living, David Cameron, economy, election, Labour, Miliband
Leave a comment
The dwindling Tory party: is anybody out there?, Telegraph, 21 September 2013
David Cameron’s enemies have been quick to pounce on figures which suggest that the Conservative Party’s membership has almost halved since he took over as Tory leader back in 2005. The drop simply proves, they argue, what they have been … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Conservative, David Cameron, Members, membership, Party, Tory
Leave a comment
Tim Bale's Blog 