aka @timbale.bsky.social Teach politics at @QMPoliticsIR. New book: "The Conservative Party After Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation"

Suntrap of the South, Sussex.
Joined October 2010
Q&A: Can't we have welfare AND defence? Was Reform UK stung or entrapped? And why is everyone going Bayeux Tapestry crazy? @the2Matts from @TheNewWorldmag open.spotify.com/episode/2xe…
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Labour MP Hugh Dalton was known for his booming voice. On one occasion, during WWII when Dalton was in the national government, Winston Churchill was said to have complained about a loud racket from the adjacent room. The prime minister was told, 'That's Dalton speaking to Glasgow, sir'. 'Well, why doesn't he use the telephone?', Churchill fumed. – at Dorval, Québec
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And back on the shelf: two definitive classics, newly updated 🔴British Labour Leaders edited by Charles Clarke and @TobySJames 🔵British Conservative Leaders edited by Charles Clarke, Toby S. James, @ProfTimBale and @PatrickDiamond1
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COMING ON 18 SEPTEMBER British By-Elections 1789-2025 - The 88 By-Election Campaigns That Shaped Our Politics Preorder a signed copy politicos.co.uk/products/by-… Full list of by-elections and essay authors below. Parliamentary by-election happens when a seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant between general elections, whether the sitting MP dies, resigns, goes bankrupt, is convicted of a crime or is subject to a recall petition. Whatever the circumstances, by-elections have long provided some the most dramatic moments in British parliamentary history. In this latest volume of political essays, Iain Dale picks the most consequential by-elections of the modern era and presents a series of thoroughly researched, and absorbing essays by some of the finest political writers working today. Middlesex 1769 Robin Eagles Co Clare 1828 Richard Gaunt Preston 1830 Gordon Pentland Manchester Withington 1867 Peter Kellner Colchester 1870 Luke Blaxill Northampton 1884 Simon Barrow Mid Lanark 1888 Baroness Pauiine Bryan Oldham 1899 Alex Puffette Barnard Castle 1903 David Laws Norwich 1904 Duncan Brack Colne Valley 1907 Gerard Hetherington Manchester NW 1908 Pippa Caterall North East Derbyshire 1914 Gordon Marsden Merthyr Tydfil 1915 Sir Vernon Bogdanor Clare East 1917 Richard Grayson Spen Valley 1919 Roger Gough Paisley 1920 Hugh Gault Woolwich East 1921 Nan Sloane Cardiganshire 1921 Russell Deacon Newport 1922 Stephen Williams Mitcham 1923 Lewis Baston Westminster Abbey 1924 Lord Lexden Smethwick 1926 James Bird Westminster St George's 1931 Sir Robert Buckland Fulham East 1933 T G Otte Oxford 1938 Simon Heffer Kinross & West Perthshire 1938 Amy Gray Bridgwater 1938 Alun Evans Maldon 1942 Will Timmins West Derbyshire James Heale Motherwell & Wishaw 1945 Richard Finlay Bournemouth 1945 David Hencke Carmarthen 1957 Roger Awan-Scully Torrington 1958 Michael McManus Orpington 1962 Lord Norton Bristol Souh East 1963 Lee Evans Kinross & West Perthshire 1963 Andrew Holt Stratford upon Avon 1963 Scarlett Maguire Roxburgh, Selkirk & Peebles 1965 Sir Peter Riddell Leyton 1965 Richard Johnson Carmarthen 1966 Sam Blaxland Kingston upon Hull North 1966 Nick Thomas-Symonds Hamilton 1967 Mike Russell Sutton & Cheam 1972 Connor Hand Rochdale 1972 Alistair Burt Lincoln 1973 Julia Langdon Govan 1973 Gerry Hassan Woolwich West 1975 Amber Whapshott Walsall N 1976 John Barnes Workington 1976 Michael Mullaney Ashfield` 1977 Robert Waller Grimsby 1977 John Bowers Garscadden 1978 Mark Peel Liverpiool Edge Hill 1979 Lord Chris Rennard Fermanagh & South Tyrone x2 1981 Toby Harnden Crosby 1981 Matthew Cole Warrington 1981 Paul Linford Glasgow Hillhead 1982 Andrew Marr Bermondsey 1983 Sir John Curtice Darlington 1983 Francis Beckett Chesterfield 1984 Greg Rosen Greenwich 1986 Nigel Fletcher Govan 1988 Gerry Hassan Eastbourne 1990 Tim Bale Eastleigh 1993 Mark Garnett Christchurch 1993 Michael Crick Newbury 1993 Elinor Goodman Dudley W 1994 Lucia Henwood Winchester 1997 Jack Brown South Antrim 2000 Richard Bullick Brent East 2003 Joe Pike Haltemprice & Howden 2008 Robert Evans Glasgow East 2008 Lesley Orr Crewe & Nantwich 2008 Lord Stephen Parkinson Clacton 2014 Tim Shipman Richmond Park 2016 Aggie Chambre Batley & Spen 2016 Mathew Hulbert Copeland 2017 Chris Whiteside Hartlepool 2021 Alia Middleton Batley & Spen 2021 Emma Burnell Chesham & Amersham 2021 Rosie Campbell North Shropshire 2021 Corey Froggatt Southend West 2022 Iain Dale Mid Bedfordshire 2023 Henry Riley Selby & Ainsty 2023 Edward Young Rutherglen 2023 Mark McGeoghegan Rochdale 2024 Sunder Katwala Runcorn - 2025 - Harry Horton
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➡️ In response to @ProfTimBale's recent article for @ECPR_TheLoop on stopping the use of the term #HardRight, Federico Taddei argues that the term isn't the problem but how journalists misuse the categories political science has worked hard to define.👇 buff.ly/YXQFxwq
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Consequences:
💰 How much public wealth do you think was given away for free via Right to Buy?  1bn? 10bn? 100bn?  Try 200 BILLION pounds.  🧵 Here's how Britain’s most infamous housing policy became its biggest housing disaster — and near the largest privatisation in British history.
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Tim Bale retweeted
Writing for @OnLondon Prof @ProfTimBale warned Tories that copying #Reform will not work for them. Yesterday, Labour held an east London council seat while the Tories, despite having a strong local candidate in @AndrewBoff, finished 4th and last, behind Reform. @philipjcowley
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I have some good news for election nerds - "The British General Election of 2024" will be out this autumn, and if you're quick you can grab a 25% pre-order discount from Waterstone's by ordering your copy by 31st July, just enter code SUMMER25
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Eric go fix your research skills - and your racism.
Replying to @JoshBabarinde
Josh go fix your country of origin!!!!!!!!!!!
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Marks and Spencer was founded by Michael Marks (מיכאל מאַרקס) a Yiddish-speaking refugee from Belarus. Few of his original colleagues spoke much English. I imagine they faced a lot of racism, but not, thankfully for them, from employees of @GBNEWS.
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The RocknRoll Politics co-operative ahead of the game as ever on the Lee Rowley front:
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Slight snag - Angela Rayner resigned her Unite membership some months ago.
🚨 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗬 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗩𝗢𝗧𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗨𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗟𝗔 𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 @unitetheunion is crystal clear it will call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette. @AngelaRayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts. The disgraceful actions of the @GOVUK and a so-called @UKLabour council, is essentially #FireAndRehire and makes a joke of the Employment Relations Act promises. People up and down the country are asking whose side is the Labour government on and coming up with the answer not workers. #BirmighamBins
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Ninety per cent of UK discourse on tax and spend:
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🔍Far-right parties are doing well – so it’s important that we see them for what they are. 🇬🇧 Yet in the UK, the label ‘hard right’ is catching on. @ProfTimBale argues this misdescription sanitises far-right parties, and we should push back against it 👇bit.ly/4eLRBeC
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Lessons include: *defeating hunchbacks in battle *marrying *annulling weddings *remarrying *executing wives *more marrying *breaking with Roman Catholic church *dissolution of monasteries *remarrying multiple times *defeating armadas
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Today marks 31 years since Brazil played the Netherlands in the World Cup quarter-finals. Before the match, the BBC used the opening credits from ‘Dallas’ to create one of the greatest football intros of all time. Absolutely glorious. 🇺🇸
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