Never Mind The Bar Charts

Jeremy Thorpe: European triumph, political leadership and personal scandal

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another in the occasional series looking back at previous party leaders with Duncan Brack.
This time we pick over Jeremy Thorpe's career - securing Britain's place in Europe, leading the Liberal Party to national prominence and then mired in scandal. What to make of it all?
Show notes
Our previous episode about Jo Grimond - www.markpack.org.uk/161656/jo-grimond-podcast/
Our interview of Jeremy Thorpe - www.markpack.org.uk/1486/jeremy-thorpe-interview/
Jeremy Thorpe and Jimi Hendrix - www.mediastorehouse.co.uk/memory-lane-prints/mirror/0100to0199-00163/jeremy-thorpe-jimi-hendrix-concert-jimi-hendrix-21541729.html
Other photos of Jeremy Thorpe looking stylish - www.gettyimages.co.uk/search/2/image?family=editorial&phrase=jeremy%20thorpe&sort=oldest&recency=daterange&begindate=1960-01-01&enddate=1980-01-01
Peter Cook satirises the judge's summing up in the trial of Jeremy Thorpe - www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyos-M48B8U
Duncan Brack on Bluesky - bsky.app/profile/duncanbrack.bsky.social
The Lib Dem History Group is at liberalhistory.org.uk
Jeremy Thorpe by Michael Bloch is available from Amazon - amzn.to/41QQUf5 - Bookshop.org - uk.bookshop.org/a/588/9780349142203 - and Waterstones - tidd.ly/3DhN31o
Theme tune by Hugo Lee: hugoleemusic.com
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How to explain, and beat, populism

Peter Kellner join sme to discuss a new report on what is going wrong with our politics, and the solutions. No surprise then that our conversation focused on populism, its causes and how liberals can defeat it.
Show notes
Disruptive Delivery: Meeting the Unmet Demand in Politics, with polling from Deltapoll.
The Challenge of Affluence: Self-Control and Well-Being in the United States and Britain since 1950 by Avner Offer (affiliate link).
An example from the 1990s of failing to predict the political future.
How incumbent governments did badly in elections in 2024.
The three humped graph from the report.
Liberal Democrat achievements in government.
Lib Dem policymaking on AI.
Peter Kellner's polling newsletter.
The Week in Polls.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
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The surprising similarity between Tony Blair and Nigel Farage

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts saw Paula Surridge return to the show, talking about the impact of political values and of perceived competence on recent general elections. We got into some surprising similarities between Tony Blair and Nigel Farage, as well as ways in which Boris Johnson and Gordon Brown were the same.
Take a listen to find out how on earth we ended up there.
Show notes
"Values in the Valence Election: Fragmentation and the 2024 General Election" by Paula Surridge. Also in blog form here.
Why we made a joke about cease and desist letters.
The graph which we mentioned.
Paula Surridge on Bluesky and Substack.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
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Lessons from a century of Labour-Liberal (Democrat) relations

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts takes a look at a book that has made me rethink several things I thought I knew about the history of the Liberal Democrats and Liberals before them.
It also contains some wonderfully acerbic photo captions and some not terribly kind words about David Lloyd George.
It is a book from another David - David Laws - and is a history of Labour - Liberal (Democrat) relations over the last century.
Show notes
Serpents, Goats and Turkeys - a century of Liberal-Labour relations: Amazon, Waterstones, Bookshop.org*
Who Killed Kitchener? The Life and Death of Britain's Most Famous War Minister: Amazon, Waterstones, Bookshop.org*
How Lib Dems love the 1920s despite the electoral disasters for the Liberal Party.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
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* Affiliate links that generate a commission for purchases made.
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Does proportional representation produce weak governments?

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts takes a look at recent research into the impact of electoral reform on the stability of governments.
Does PR mean less stable government? Listen to my discussion with the research's author Dylan Difford to find out.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Strong and Stable: the most politically stable democracies use PR.
The wild ride of elections in the 1920s.
Dylan Difford on Bluesky.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
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Do those "Winning Here" posters and bar charts actually work?

Election campaigns often put significant effort into persuading voters that their candidate(s) could win. But does such campaigning really change people's expectations of who might win? And even if it people's views do change, does being seen as a more likely winner really help you win the election?
Or in other words, are all those "winning here" posters and bar charts worth it?
The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts welcomes back to the show Justin Fisher to discuss just that, courtesy of new research from himself and two colleagues.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
"Innocent Bystanders or the Forgotten Actors? The Role of Parties and Candidates in Building Electoral Campaign Momentum" by Justin Fisher, Ed Fieldhouse and David Cutts.
A Logic of Expressive Choice by Alexander A. Schuessler (affiliate link).
101 Ways To Win An Election.
The accuracy of MRPs.
Justin Fisher on Twitter/X.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
Photo of "Winning Here" poster courtesy of the Lib Dems (CC BY-ND 2.0).
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Failed State: why our government is broken and how to fix it

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts sees a return to the show for Sam Freedman. This time he’s got a new book out, about how our government is broken – and what to do to fix it.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Failed State: Why Nothing Works and How We Fix It by Sam Freedman: Amazon, Waterstones, UK Bookshop (affiliate links).
Sam Freedman’s Prospect articles.
The Mill.
Sam Freedman’s newsletter.
The myth of Budget poll bounces.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
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The importance of geography to British electoral politics

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts discusses a great new book about the geography of British elections with its two authors, Jamie Furlong and Will Jennings.
Why do the Conservatives underperform on Merseyside yet overperform in Lincolnshire, and how much of electoral geography is really about individual campaigners?
Take a listen to find out...
Show notes
Get The Changing Electoral Map of England and Wales by Jamie Furlong and Will Jennings: Amazon, Bookshop, Waterstones. (Affiliate links.)
Get Putting Voters in Their Place: Geography and Elections in Great Britain by Ron Johnston and Charles Pattie: Amazon, Bookshop, Waterstones. (Affiliate links.)
My two previous podcasts discussing Brexitland: with Rob Ford and with Maria Sobolewska.
Jamie Furlong and Will Jennings on X/Twitter.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
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Election 2024 debrief: podcast with Tim Bale

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts takes a look back to the five criteria for success that Professor Tim Bale set out for opposition leaders and considers how they played out by the end of the 2024 general election.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Our original discussion of five tests for opposition parties.
Our December 2020, March 2022 and December 2022 updates.
Some of those Ed Davey stunts.
My puzzlement over the lack of concern from Conservatives about losing support in Surrey and London.
The size of Lib Dem majorities.
Ed Davey's campaign ratings.
Survey of Conservative membership on the next party leader.
Tim Bale on X/Twitter.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
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One last podcast before polling day

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another special with John Potter and the Lib Dem Pod, looking at all the latest from the election campaign.
Show notes
The More in Common polling I mention.
Lib Dem Pod.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
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For material which promotes the party’s candidates or future candidates, the imprint information is that it is promoted by Mike Dixon on behalf of the Liberal Democrats, both 1 Vincent Square, London, SW1P 2PN.
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