Opinion Articles

Dr Liam Fox: More Palmerston than Blair?

When the Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox referred to himself as “more Palmerston than Blair” in an interview with The Times, it can be safely assumed he was not alluding to the fact that Lord Palmerston began his parliamentary career as a Tory, and ended it as a Liberal. Palmerston was famous in foreign affairs […]

Nick Clegg and the not-so-great 1832 Reform Act

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has authenticated his blueprint [pdf file, 43KB] for political and constitutional reform with a comparison to the 1832 'Great' Reform Act, promising to deliver: The biggest shake up of our democracy since 1832, when the Great Reform Act redrew the boundaries of British democracy, for the first time extending the […]

The ‘Great’ Reform Act of 1832: Clegg’s unfortunate parallel

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has called the reforms announced today 'the most significant programme of empowerment by a British government since the great reforms of the 19th Century', in particular since the Great Reform Act of 1832. The parallels with 1832 are actually deeply unfortunate. The rationale behind the passage of the Reform Act […]

If Cameron is the new Baldwin, where does this leave Clegg?

BA cabin crew: the new London dockers?

Philip Hammond's comparison between BA cabin staff contemplating strike action and the London dockers of the 1960s who attempted to resist employment and technological changes is not entirely inaccurate. Like BA cabin staff today the dockers of London and other British ports were low paid, insecurely employed, worked long hours and were only taken seriously […]

Avoiding Irish entanglements

The Conservative Party, now in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, no longer needs to rely on the support of Ulster Unionists. This is just as well, because the history of entanglements between Irish and British parties suggests it would have been an unwise move, which the Conservatives narrowly avoided. In January, Conservative Northern Ireland spokesman […]

A Conservative – Labour coalition?

Seventy years ago, on 10th May 1940, Labour entered into a coalition with the Conservative and allied parties, despite huge differences in policy and ideology. Today such a coalition would be, in policy terms, the natural place for New Labour to be. New Labour was much closer to the Tories on David Cameron's three non-negotiable […]

Another election this year? Historical perspectives on the hung parliament

Gordon Brown is perfectly entitled to remain as Prime Minister and attempt to secure support for his programme in the House of Commons, as Stanley Baldwin did after losing his majority in the general election of 1923. The paradox of the current situation is that the parliamentary arithmetic favours a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, but David […]

Proportional Representation: historical destiny beckons?

History shows both how the two-party system has lasted for so long in our country and also why it has now outlasted its usefulness. It has entered, during the last two decades, a period of pathological obsolescence: dead on its feet, only kept alive by the life-support machine of the first-past-the-post electoral rule. The origins […]

That Cabinet Manual in full

Some Conservatives have accused the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, of stacking the deck against them by insisting that Gordon Brown remains Prime Minister until he gives up trying to form a coalition, thus giving him the first move. Others, notably Professor Peter Hennessy, insisted through the night that that was “the British Constitution”. Who […]