Breaching the Blue Wall: important new electoral analysis
Lots of useful stuff to digest in this new report from the team that first identified the ‘yellow halo’, the forerunner to what we now all call the Blue Wall. … Read the full post »
Tim Bale
Read my posts featuring the work of political scientist, author and professor, Tim Bale. Of particular relevance to this site is his research into political party membership – why people join parties, why they don’t and how they behave when they have.
He is also the author of an excellent book on Ed Miliband’s time as Labour Leader, Five Year Mission.
How many people know what ‘pork barrel politics’ means?
Another reminder that most people don’t pay that much attention to politics and so what’s obvious to those in politics can be baffling to those outside it. … Read the full post »
PODCAST – How are Labour and the Liberal Democrats doing?
I was joined again by Professor Tim Bale for the last episode in 2020 of Never Mind The Bar Charts. We took a look back at Tim’s five lessons for opposition parties and discussed how both Labour and the Liberal Democrats are doing on each of them. … Read the full post »
PODCAST – Where next for the Liberal Democrats? What the data says, with Tim Bale
Following the publication of the research report Where next for the Liberal Democrats?, I invited one of its co-authors, Professor Tim Bale, back on the show to talk about what the report found and the lessons for future Lib Dem strategy. … Read the full post »
Where next for the Liberal Democrats? New research report published
Think tank The UK in a Changing Europe has new research out today looking at the political prospects for the Liberal Democrats. … Read the full post »
5 lessons from my 1993 election leaflet: LDN #138
Back in the early days of the lockdown, I caught up on filing old election leaflets and found one of my own. Liberal Democrat Newswire #138, which came out last week, explains the lessons for politics in 2020 from it. … Read the full post »
The five things an opposition party must do: podcast with Tim Bale
What makes for a successful opposition party? How much of that success is down to the leader? How much does policymaking matter in opposition? … Read the full post »
How do you make someone join a political party? Never Mind The Bar Charts with Tim Bale
Professor Tim Bale, one of the leading experts in political party membership, talks about who joins parties, why they join and how those who join the Liberal Democrats differ from those who join other parties. … Read the full post »
The big challenges ahead for the Liberal Democrats: LDN #133
There are two versions of 2019 which future historians of the Liberal Democrats may write about. One is about a party that was on the road to recovery… … Read the full post »
An essential guide to understanding political party membership
For several years now, Tim Bale, Paul Webb and Monica Poletti have been the stand-out stars of research into British political party membership. … Read the full post »