Conservative party
England’s local elections 2018: Theresa May holds on, but the Conservatives remain on the precipice
The results for England’s local elections on 3 May indicate that the Conservatives and Labour parties remain neck and neck for national vote share. Ben Margulies argues that, though Theresa May has been more successful in local elections then elsewhere in her premiership, the Conservatives remain in a precarious position, with no easy path to regaining a majority.
Same difference? Female (and male) members of Britain’s political parties
A recent report by the Party Membership Project run by Monica Poletti, Tim Bale and Paul Webb has shown how the membership of Britain’s main political parties is more like to be male, middle aged and middle class. The results of this survey were explored in a discussion with several leading female MPs, which highlighted common concerns about party behaviours, class and gender barriers that reinforce these disparities in participation.
From City Hall to Downing Street: what would Boris as Mayor tell us about Boris as PM?
As speculation mounts again about Theresa May’s longevity at Prime Minister, Boris Johnson’s star has risen once again. But what would PM Boris be like? Ben Worthy and Mark Bennister read the runes from his time as London’s Mayor.
Corbyn’s rent controls: radical new housing policy, or just rhetoric?
If there is one thing that Labour and Conservatives currently have in common, it is that both appear ready to embark on a step change in housing policy. But are Jeremy Corbyn’s recent announcements on rent controls a sign of change, or just another new political language for ‘masterly inactivity’? Ben Pattison (Sheffield Hallam University) reviews Labour’s […]
The new prison framework will be inflexible, costly and do nothing to ease chronic overcrowding and violence
The Conservative manifesto planned to create a series of legally enforceable standards that prisons, and those who work with inmates, will have to meet. Nasrul Ismail and Nick de Viggiani (University of the West of England) have interviewed 30 prison policymakers about the proposed new framework. They warn its inflexibility will lead to a ‘compliance […]
Book review | Guilty Men – the Brexit Edition, by Tim Oliver
Brexit is as big and dangerous a mistake as that of appeasement in the 1930s. So argues Cato the Younger in his book Guilty Men: Brexit Edition, reviewed here by Tim Oliver. Taking up the pen of his great grandfather, whose 1940 book of the same name destroyed the reputations of those responsible for appeasement, Cato the Younger is no […]
Inheritance, patriarchy, the social contract: the perils of invoking ‘generation’ in politics
Generation is a pivotal concept in contemporary politics, but not enough attention is paid to the way in which it operates ideologically. Ben Little and Alison Winch explain the different meanings of generation in political culture – which originated when Edmund Burke invoked the concept to bind people to the state – and highlight the tension between them. […]
Heath, Brown and now May: how ‘serious, details-oriented’ PMs fail
As the Conservative conference drew to a close in Manchester, Theresa May was still struggling to unite her party. Ben Worthy (Birkbeck University of London) looks at the reasons why Prime Ministers fail and how the same qualities that are lauded in a new PM often explain their failure. Like May, Gordon Brown and Edward Heath […]
Book review: An Unsuccessful Prime Minister? Reappraising John Major, ed. Kevin Hickson and Ben Williams
In John Major: An Unsuccessful Prime Minister? Reappraising John Major, editors Kevin Hickson and Ben Williams offer a balanced reappraisal of the tumultuous years of the Major government, challenging perceptions of the former Prime Minister as simply an interlude between Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. While the volume could have included more on the Major’s government approach to foreign policy, Robert […]
Just how much do voters trust Scottish parties’ social media posts?
Do people believe the ‘facts’ circulated on social media by political parties? Graeme Baxter, Rita Marcella and Agnieszka Walicka showed Scottish voters five posts from different parties and asked them to rate their reliability. The Scottish Greens’ post was viewed as the most trustworthy, with participants identifying a wide gap between their experience of local politicians and the national debate. […]
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