Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London & author of The Conservative Party after Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation (now out in paperback). The bits and pieces I do for websites and newspapers turn up eventually at https://proftimbale.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mlvm5redzc2aProbability on this being blamed entirely on the Labour leadership turmoil by the UK media: 100% 🙄 [contains quote post or other embedded content]15 May 2026 15:04 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlvm5redzc2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mlvh2nnris2dI am all for joining the EU. However, this brilliant tour d'horizon/state of play piece from my former boss makes it clear that it won't be a walk in the park - but also that the current situation is somewhere between merely unsatisfactory in the short term and completely untenable in the long term. [contains quote post or other embedded content]15 May 2026 13:33 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlvh2nnris2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mlvg64jsgs2dBOND MARKET VIGILANTES NOT ACTUALLY THAT VIGILANT SHOCKER!15 May 2026 13:17 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlvg64jsgs2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mlv24wvedk2e‪Tim Bale‬ Early plea to anyone covering the putative Labour leadership contest: see if you can do it without routinely resorting to all those Game of Thrones analogies. You never know, it may just be possible.15 May 2026 09:41 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlv24wvedk2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mlunbhmbj22qNone of them, it seems, is likely to do the one thing that *might* provide a cathartic rationale for ditching Starmer and bring back some voters, namely to announce (maybe not straight away) that Labour, should it form the government after the next general election, will try to negotiate EU entry. 🧵 https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/14/potential-labour-leadership-candidates-streeting-miliband-rayner-burnham15 May 2026 05:51 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlunbhmbj22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mlumah72vs2u"Cara, cara, charimsatic chameleon" 🎵 [contains quote post or other embedded content]15 May 2026 05:33 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlumah72vs2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mlum456vjk2uFrom the brilliant @asherperlman.bsky.social Doesn't resonate with me at all, of course....15 May 2026 05:30 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlum456vjk2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mlusiibxpc26Some in the City trying to scare off whoever takes over from Starmer from appointing 'Red Ed' already! 🙄 https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/chancellor-city-insiders-fear-most-441094415 May 2026 07:25 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlusiibxpc26https://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mluor4svz22qI'm guessing powerbroker, but who knows? Great portrait of one of Labour's most interesting politicians by @lucyfisher.ft.com https://www.ft.com/content/9293f298-dd8c-4a91-9b29-f9c4dead91d015 May 2026 06:18 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mluor4svz22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mlunup3mic2qAgree completely - but they are all about the means not the ends. Labour right now desperately needs a cause, a reason for all those it's lost to return. After all, as Wilson put it in 1962 "The Labour Party is a moral crusade or it is nothing". [contains quote post or other embedded content]15 May 2026 06:02 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlunup3mic2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mlunout73k2qLest we forget (the Tory Party). Spot-on (and beautifully written), as per, from @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk (Source: https://www.joxleywrites.jmoxley.co.uk/p/have-the-tories-noticed-they-lost)15 May 2026 05:59 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlunout73k2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mlunbhmbj22qNone of them, it seems, is likely to do the one thing that *might* provide a cathartic rationale for ditching Starmer and bring back some voters, namely to announce (maybe not straight away) that Labour, should it form the government after the next general election, will try to negotiate EU entry. 🧵 https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/14/potential-labour-leadership-candidates-streeting-miliband-rayner-burnham15 May 2026 05:51 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlunbhmbj22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mlumah72vs2u"Cara, cara, charimsatic chameleon" 🎵 [contains quote post or other embedded content]15 May 2026 05:33 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlumah72vs2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mlum456vjk2uFrom the brilliant @asherperlman.bsky.social Doesn't resonate with me at all, of course....15 May 2026 05:30 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlum456vjk2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mltb4e54cc2uTrue. But if Burnham can't win there (presuming the NEC give him the nod and the local party select him) then he's no good to Labour as leader anyway. #UsefulTest [contains quote post or other embedded content]14 May 2026 16:41 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mltb4e54cc2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mltb4e54cc2uTrue. But if Burnham can't win there (presuming the NEC give him the nod and the local party select him) then he's no good to Labour as leader anyway. #UsefulTest [contains quote post or other embedded content]14 May 2026 16:41 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mltb4e54cc2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mlsxcojsgs2fThere's a fine line between brave and foolhardy and Streeting might just have crossed it. And note, this survey was conducted before his resignation. Anyone who remembers how badly Sunak's supposed backstabbing of Johnson went down with the grassroots shouldn't expect those numbers to improve much.14 May 2026 13:46 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlsxcojsgs2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/timbale.bsky.social/post/3mltaidqza22uBut of course you all knew this already, right?14 May 2026 16:30 +0000at://did:plc:xabwvf57eu2lawtmvheq3ubi/app.bsky.feed.post/3mltaidqza22u