Crunch time for the PM
30 Jan 2012
Comparing what a politician does in office with what he said he wanted to do before he got there is inherently unfair. For one thing, it is parties, not individuals, … » more
British gloom has yet to lighten Labour's hopes
07 Dec 2011
The British public probably did not need to be told. They were already deeply pessimistic about the prospects for the country’s economy. But now in his autumn statement the Chancellor … » more
The growth package Lib Dems need for their own well-being
07 Dec 2011
In his 1963 budget, the beginning of the ‘dash for growth’, Reginald Maudling said ‘of the need for economic expansion, there can be little question.’ These words ring painfully true … » more
Leading the Tories, but with which road map?
07 Oct 2011
Echoing the words of his former party leader, Ed Miliband, in offering the Liberal Democrats an opportunity to take part in Labour’s policy review, said, ‘the kaleidoscope of British politics … » more
Shaping the coalition
29 Sep 2011
The challenge for Mr Clegg and the Lib-Dems over the next four years is to show that they have played a distinctive part in developing government policies that people care about so that the electorate will want to say ‘thank you’ and not ‘goodbye’
How do you solve a problem like Gordon?
29 Sep 2011
A review of Brown at 10, Anthony Seldon and Guy Lodge (2010 Biteback Publishers, London Paperback published 6 October 2011.
Winning back the working class
11 Jul 2011
Recent British politics has witnessed the resurgence of concern for the reinvention of civil society.
Seeing behind the C&C see-saw
10 Jul 2011
The general election of May 2010 produced the first full coalition government that Britain has seen since 1945. It also ushered in a new ‘age of austerity’, marked by drastic … » more
Happy birthday?
27 Apr 2011
The coalition's first anniversary is bound to prompt the nation’s newspapers into drawing up balance sheets based on what has gone well and what has gone badly. Expect plenty of … » more
Is Britain's private sector in George's debt?
27 Apr 2011
When Sir Keith Joseph served as Secretary of State for Industry during the deep recession of 1979-81, he used to ask his senior civil servants whether they could detect any … » more
The man who missed his chance to save the world
17 Jan 2011
At prime minister's question time on the 10th September 2008, and in seeking to defend his government’s recapitalisation of the United Kingdom’s failing major banks, Gordon Brown stated, ‘We not … » more
Trapped at the crease
30 Nov 2010
Today's Tory party is more at odds than ever before on Europe, says Tim Bale. While no rebellion is imminent, future battles may be hard and bloody
Short of goals in the premier league
30 Nov 2010
Labour complacency about the next election is entirely misplaced, believes Patrick Diamond, and a bold new electoral strategy reconnecting them with the millions of voters they have lost is sorely needed
'The Journey': a memoir that left policy-making behind
28 Oct 2010
Much of the analysis of Tony Blair's autobiography has focused on obvious topics of public interest such as his relationship with Gordon Brown and, in particular his views on foreign … » more
Cometh the hour …
30 Sep 2010
The imminent Comprehensive Spending Review will reveal once and for all what manner of Tory Cameron really is, says Tim Bale
What is Left?
31 Aug 2010
One of the harsher lessons for oppositions to learn is that in contrast to government, what you do and what you say very seldom matters. So it has been for … » more
So what's the next big idea that would recapture Middle England from the Tories?
31 Aug 2010
The Labour Party’s defeat at the May 2010 general election, after thirteen years and three consecutive terms in office, has triggered a vigorous debate within and beyond the party about the reasons for its defeat and the legacy of New Labour.
A good leader never lets the tail wag the dog
22 Jul 2010
According to the redoubtable Peter Oborne, writing in the Daily Mail (9 July 2010), the current government looks like being one of the best we’ve had for a very long … » more
You’re a good man IDS, but the odds are against you in this Cabinet
22 Jul 2010
In 2002, Iain Duncan Smith, then leader of the Conservative Party, visited the community project with which I am associated in Easterhouse, Glasgow. In the project’s building — six tenement flats … » more
Birds of a feather
23 Jun 2010
With the party’s unity under the spotlight of the media and in the gunsights of the Labour party, now is a good time to look at the underlying unity of the Liberal Democrats. Over the last five years it has had a leader ousted, another resigning without fighting a general election, contests for both party president and deputy leader, opinion poll ratings sinking as low as 11 per cent, a formal coalition arrangement with another party and now it is facing the difficulties of being the junior coalition partner in a government facing and making as unpopular decisions as any peacetime government in living memory.
Goodbye Mrs T
18 May 2010
The formation of a coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats has been made possible by the inconclusive result of the general election, but it has the capacity to … » more
C’mon, no Tory was ever likely to sweep the country
18 May 2010
It’s easy to forget amidst the euphoria surrounding the formation of Britain’s first peacetime coalition in eighty years that its leader, David Cameron, initially came in for a fair bit of criticism for failing to win an outright victory on polling day itself. That criticism — surprise, surprise — is now rather muted. But it was always misguided. The chances of Cameron cruising to an overall majority in 2010 were some way between small and tiny.
A shadow economy
29 Mar 2010
Economic policy is often an important determinant of general election outcomes, not least when they are held against the backdrop of faltering economic performance. In May 1979, following the ‘Winter … » more
Dyson’s clean-up leaves the Tories with a bit of a vacuum
29 Mar 2010
In spelling out his ‘new economic model’ in recent months, the Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has gone as far to say that he has changed his view on the role … » more
The Osborne Enigma
29 Mar 2010
David Cameron and his right-hand man and election supremo George Osborne are about to lead their troops into battle in what is expected to be one of the most closely … » more
The New Tories may be a puzzle but the pieces do make up a new kind of Britain
29 Mar 2010
Contemporary Conservatism is a puzzle for scholars of political ideology. It lacks the ideological certainties of Thatcherism but at the same time does not mark a clear, decisive victory for … » more
The new model Britain with more questions than answers
29 Mar 2010
The Conservatives’ New Economic Model: Eight Benchmarks for Britain subtitled ‘Year for Change’ with a foreword by George Osborne the Shadow Chancellor aims to provide an alternative to the current … » more
New broom is not a clean sweep
02 Mar 2010
The key to the Tory success in 1951-55, says Tim Bale was that men like Rab Butler knew not just what the government should choose to do but also what it should choose not to do
Respect Holyrood? Then let them raise their own cash
02 Mar 2010
Oh, and you’d have fewer Scots at Westminster, says James Mitchell — a nice bonus for the Tories
Hanging in the balance
02 Mar 2010
A hung parliament is the talk of the political town. But as John Curtice explains, there are ‘hung parliaments’ and ‘hung parliaments’
Clegg the Kingmaker?
27 Jan 2010
It has only happened once in the post-war period and that was over thirty years ago. Yet now there is much talk that this year’s general election will produce a … » more
How the Tories hope to be a cut above the rest
07 Jan 2010
If the Tories want to succeed in their plans to reduce public spending in 2010, says Andrew Gamble they need to start talking clearly now about what they'll cut &mdash and when.
How (not) to cut government spending
07 Jan 2010
Labour and Conservatives are in agreement that cuts to public spending are necessary; but, over the medium-term, radical slashes now will be damaging, argues Glen O'Hara.
Time for the Tories to make the welfare market work
08 Dec 2009
Any new Conservative government elected next year is facing a tough task on welfare to work. But what problems lie ahead? And will the Tories be able to learn from experience? asks Stephen Driver
A fractured alliance
08 Dec 2009
Media caricatures of the European Conservatives and Reformists are wrong. Not only are the Tories’ ECR partners more mainstream than they’re given credit for, but not all of them are as Eurosceptic as the Conservatives might wish. They face a hard time staying together, says Tim Bale
All Health Care Policies lead to PROMs, but not yet?
08 Dec 2009
Cameron is to be applauded for his support of PROMs, says Alan Maynard, but during his expected first term of office he may not have the outcome data he requires to lead the NHS into greater productivity
The NHS: facing up to the challenge
08 Dec 2009
The NHS is on course for the most serious funding crisis in its entire history in 2011, says Nick Bosanquet: a total redesign is required.
Book review — The Conservatives under David Cameron: built to last?, edited by Simon Lee and Matt Beech
08 Dec 2009
This collection of essays is the most comprehensive analysis of Cameron’s Conservative Party to date. The editors have done a splendid job once again following their earlier collaboration on … » more
Can you improve education whilst losing the know-how?
08 Dec 2009
Education is one of those policy areas where Labour has traditionally scored higher ratings than the Conservatives, but where in the last year the Conservatives have moved ahead. Much … » more
A very British volte face
08 Dec 2009
Of the proposals in his recent speech on the EU, Cameron may have to content himself with the easier victories says Michael Dougan
Book review — The Conservative Party from Thatcher to Cameron, by Tim Bale
08 Dec 2009
In the run-up to the General Election and in its aftermath we can expect a wave of new books looking at the Conservatives and in particular at the Cameron ‘project’. … » more
A very British volte face
18 Nov 2009
In a speech delivered on 4 November 2009, David Cameron set out the Conservative Party’s policy towards the European Union, in the light of ratification of the Lisbon Treaty by … » more
Getting into No.10?
14 Jul 2008
The real challenge for Cameron will come once he's inside the door. Tim Bale considers what this means for the Tory party now.