Tag Archives: David Cameron

‘Behind the Political Masks’, Financial Times, 4 May 2015

It’s been a no-surprises campaign — or so runs the conventional wisdom. Yet, almost in spite of themselves, nearly all the party leaders have told us something worth knowing. From Natalie Bennett, we’ve learned that the Greens have picked a … Continue reading

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‘Cameron looks more like a captive than a captain of his party’, ConservativeHome, 26 April 2015

You don’t have to have succumbed to full-blown “Milifandom” to notice that Labour’s leader seems to be having a better election than his Conservative counterpart. He can’t possibly be as ubiquitous in real life as he’s been on Twitter of … Continue reading

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‘UKIP should not be written off yet’, Financial Times, 24 April 2015

The narrative says one thing but the numbers say another. Contrary to common wisdom, the UK Independence party — and its leader — seem to be holding up fairly well under fire. There are plenty of accounts of the campaign … Continue reading

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‘General Election: the Parallels with 1970’s Shock Result’, Financial Times, 17 April 2015

Human beings are hard-wired to search for patterns and parallels — especially those that seem to confirm their existing prejudices. Hardly surprising, then, that politicians are so fond of comparisons between elections past and present, and so inclined to pick … Continue reading

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‘An over-chillaxed David Cameron drops a brick with his bombshell’, FT, 24 March 2015

Either David Cameron is one of the more unusual men ever to have become British prime minister — one of those rare birds in politics (the last was Stanley Baldwin back in 1937) who quit while they are genuinely ahead … Continue reading

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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

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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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‘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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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

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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

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