Tag: Labour
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 […]
Tilting at linguistic windmills: a million Welsh speakers
The target of creating one million Welsh speakers in Wales by 2050 announced by the Welsh Government as the central goal of its Welsh Language Strategy (‘Cymraeg 2050. A million Welsh speakers’) has captured the headlines: and why should it not? After all, that would mean effectively doubling the number of Welsh speakers. It would […]
A return to two-party politics? Don’t believe it
The snap election may have seen the biggest combined vote between the two main parties since 1970, but this is not the result of lost voters returning to their political homes, writes Darren Hughes. On the contrary, it is the outcome of 21st century voting patterns playing out within a broken 19th century voting system. Similar PostsGeneral election 2019: […]
No one won this General Election – and Labour’s internal wrangles are far from over
No party emerges with much credit from the general election, writes Robin Pettitt. Theresa May is diminished and she may not survive for long, even with the support of the DUP. Jeremy Corbyn captured 29 more seats but still lost the election, and his personal standing with voters remains poor and his problems with the […]
The case of the missing marginals: how big will May’s majority be?
A little-reported result of the 2015 general election was a substantial reduction in the number of marginal seats, and a consequent increase in the number of very safe ones for both the Conservatives and Labour. Ron Johnston, Charles Pattie and David Rossiter explore the implications of those changes for the forthcoming election. Will May get […]
Snap election a win-win for Theresa May: she’ll crush Labour and make Brexit a little easier
How could Theresa May resist breaking her word? Tim Bale says a new cohort of Conservative MPs will boost her majority and enable her to return from Brussels with a softer Brexit. The Labour party, meanwhile, will be annihilated, and the Lib Dems can hope for at most 15% of the vote. Centrists may take […]
Book review: Ed Balls’ Speaking Out: Lessons in Life and Politics
Twenty-one years after leaving a career in journalism to work for Labour in opposition, following shock defeat in the May 2015 general election, then UK Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls abruptly found himself without a job. In his new memoir, Speaking Out: Lessons in Life and Politics, he reflects on his life in politics, offering a wider […]
Wales and the Brexit vote: a case of turkeys voting for Christmas?
Wales voted leave by a margin of 52.5 per cent. It is an interesting case study of how people voted against their own material self interest, to increase their precarity, and to become even poorer than they already are, writes Daniel Evans. Before the referendum, he also predicted that that the EU could become a scapegoat for […]
From “Watchdog” to “Attackdog”: Media depictions of Jeremy Corbyn are an affront to democracy
A healthy democracy requires a watchdog in its press — not an ‘attackdog’, ‘snarling’ and ‘barking’ at an elected politician. Yet this is how Jeremy Corbyn is being treated by the media, explains Brooks DeCillia. He outlines the findings of LSE research that show how the Leader of the Opposition is being delegitimased by the British […]
Parliamentary arrangements after a Labour split might be easily solved, but bigger questions will be more difficult
In the post-referendum turmoil facing the Labour Party, there are increasing questions about whether the party might split. Despite shadow cabinet resignations and a Parliamentary Labour Party vote of no confidence, Jeremy Corbyn seems determined to hang on, and to force a contest if necessary. If that proceeds, a split looks very likely. But what […]
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