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.
Tag Archives: Tories
‘Under “Brexit Badenoch”, what is the future of the Conservative Party?’, The Independent, 26 April 2025.
ow many therapists does it take to change a lightbulb? Only one, runs the old joke, but the lightbulb really has to want to change. The same goes for political parties. For all the talk about Sir Keir Starmer somehow fooling his … Continue reading
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Tagged Conservatives, kemi-bandenoch, populist-radical-right, Tories, uk-politics
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‘Brexit and the Conservative Party’, UK in a Changing Europe, 25 April 2025.
The impact of Brexit on the Conservative Party provides a textbook example of the remedy being worse than the disease. Cameron had always been a soft or small-e Eurosceptic, as much concerned with the symbolism as the substance of UK’s … Continue reading
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Tagged Brexit, Conservatives, leave, remain, Tories, uk-politics
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‘Foxes at the door – the Tories’ identity crisis’, House Magazine/Politics Home, 9 May 2024.
Every political party likes to believe that it’s somehow special, sui generis, novel. In truth, though, there’s little that’s new under the sun. Reform UK, for all the excitement surrounding it right now, is no exception to the rule – … Continue reading
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Tagged Conservative Party, Nigel Farage, populist-radical-right, rishi-sunak, Tories
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‘Like it’s 1997? Major’s lot weren’t so pointless, poisonous or loathed’, Observer, 17 March 2024.
We learned two things about the Conservatives last week. First, that they’re planning to spend so much money at the next election that they can’t afford to return Frank Hester’s tainted millions. Second, that the election won’t be held in May. … Continue reading
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Tagged Conservative Party, John Major, politics, rishi-sunak, Tories
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‘How the Tory party can solve its membership crisis, in three easy steps’, Guardian, 3 October 2017.
The Conservative party no longer seems capable of winning elections by a convincing margin. Nor does it attract as many members as its main rivals. Arguably, the two things are related. A successful campaign requires cash, as well as an attractive offer … Continue reading
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Tagged Conservative Party, Conservative Party members, Tories
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‘Blue on blue: the 10 greatest Tory feuds’, New Statesman, 14 August 2017.
The Conservatives have descended into infighting over Europe, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone – they have been at each other’s throats many times before. The Tory expert Tim Bale provides a guide to the most acrimonious feuds, starting in 1945… … Continue reading
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Tagged Anthony Eden, Conservative Party, David Cameron, Enoch Powell, George Osborne, Iain Duncan Smith, Iain Macleod, John Major, Lord Woolton, Margaret Thatcher, Michael Portillo, Notting Hill, Rab Butler, Ted Heath, Theresa May, Tories, William Hague, Winston Churchill
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‘After an enormous victory in local elections, should the Tories fear voter complacency in the General? No’, CityAM, 8 May 2017
If your team is 3-0 up at half-time, then you can be fairly confident that you’re going to pull off an easy win. But even so, you need to guard against complacency. Remember the 2005 Champions League final, when the … Continue reading
‘The Conservative Party and Business have fallen in and out of love for decades’, The Conversation, 11 October 2016.
Given the potential impact of a so-called “hard Brexit” on bottom lines, as well as the less-than-friendly tone of recent ministerial and prime ministerial interventions, it’s hardly surprising that relations between the British government and business have been pretty strained … Continue reading
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Tagged Business, Conservative Party, Conservatives, Liam Fox, Margaret Thatcher, Tories
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‘David Cameron: The moderniser whose bravery stopped fatally short’, New Statesman, 13 September 2016
Few if any British Prime Ministers have been able to rescue their reputations by publishing their memoirs. David Cameron had better hope he proves one of the exceptions to the rule because, right now, he’s in danger of being written … Continue reading
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Tagged Brexit, Conservative Party, Conservatives, David Cameron, Parliament, Prime Minister, Theresa May, Tories
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‘Can Theresa May even sell her new conservatism to her own cabinet?’, Observer, 17 May 2016.
Political parties can be frighteningly small worlds, with a cripplingly limited cast of characters. As a result, people whose careers are widely assumed to be over – either because they once messed up badly or because their face no longer … Continue reading
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Tagged Conservative Party, Conservative Party members, Nick Timothy, Theresa May, Tories
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