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Peter Sloman

@pjsloman.bsky.social
985 followers 303 following 129 posts
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
New article! I've written about Paddy Ashdown, 'third way' politics, and the Liberal Democrats' relationship with New Labour in @jbritishstudies.bsky.social doi.org/10.1017/jbr....
doi.org
Paddy Ashdown’s Third Way: The Liberal Democrats and the Politics of the 1990s | Journal of British Studies | Cambridge Core
Paddy Ashdown’s Third Way: The Liberal Democrats and the Politics of the 1990s - Volume 65
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Liberal Democrat policy is now best understood as a set of Trotskyist-style transitional demands, ostensibly reasonable but cumulatively very costly, which can only be delivered by taking the UK back into the single market. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Ed Davey promises £17bn income tax cut if Lib Dems are elected
Growth created by rejoining EU single market and customs union would fund change, Davey tells the party’s conference
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
It's great to see articles from the Political Quarterly special issue on the 2026 local and devolved elections start to come out, including this very timely piece by David Howarth on the Liberal Democrats at mid-term: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Values versus Tactics: The Liberal Democrat Predicament
The Liberal Democrats emerged from the 2024 election with their largest parliamentary party since 1923. The 2026 elections saw further progress in English local government and Scottish parliamentary ...
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
There's a liberal solution to the UK's current predicament, which starts by reversing the damage that Brexit and tight migration policies have done to the public finances. Thus far, there is no sign of Andy Burnham taking that path.
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Fair play to John Healey, who managed to time his 5.5-week break from government to coincide exactly with the World Cup
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
England's half of the World Cup bracket contains no EU member states. By my count, there are 9 in the other half
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Churchill Archives Centre @chuarchives.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
We have a rare and exciting opportunity to join our team as Director of Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College. Application deadline is 9am on 29th June 2026. Please share this with people you think would be interested.
buff.ly
Director of the Churchill Archives Centre | Churchill College, Cambridge
Application deadline: 09:00 am BST on Monday 29th June
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
It's early days yet, but it looks like Burnham has decided to resolve this conundrum by adopting most of Starmer's positions. (Would he be saying the same things if he was fighting Withington?)
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
There's a damaging tendency in British politics to treat party crises, leadership changes, and other forms of instability as failures of politics, rather than part of the political process. (I know it's not only a British phenomenon, but our majoritarian political culture makes it worse.)
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
I think this is probably true, but the context for Milibandism (or predistribution) has also got much less propitious since 2015: the UK is out of the EU, energy costs are up, and corporation tax and the minimum wage are higher.
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
He's right - terrific stuff. 'You cannot “live within the lie” of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination.'
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
It's a pleasure to contribute to Renewal's special issue on Labour in power (though unfortunately it's behind a paywall)
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
This is a great opportunity to join the Churchill College community for a term and carry out research on our wonderful C20th history collections. Apply now for 2026/27!
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BJPIR @bjpir.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
📝 Don't miss this article from the current issue of #BJPIR - Volume 27, Issue 4 (November 2025) 'Why do parties (not) support Universal Basic Income? The case of the UK Liberal Democrats' by @pjsloman.bsky.social 🔗 buff.ly/roRneC3 @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
I've published a new (short) article on 'John Maynard Keynes and Universal Basic Income', which might be of interest to those working on these debates: www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
degruyterbrill.com
John Maynard Keynes on Universal Basic Income
John Maynard Keynes has not normally been seen as a basic income supporter, but two letters written by Keynes during the Second World War suggest that he had thought seriously about the idea and was a...
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Close watchers of political language and the links between British Labour and the ALP might note that Albanese was saying 'our policy stands' about a tax change last week, just days before his government revised it: www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
‘Our policy stands’: PM downplays Treasury advice on doubling tax rate for superannuation over $3m
Albanese reiterates policy despite reports his government was reconsidering changes to address criticisms of taxing ‘unrealised gains’
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
On the Conservatives' £47bn of spending cuts, this feels like a very early stage in the Parliament to be setting out specifics, but I suppose the point is to allow Badenoch and Stride to oppose the tax rises coming in the November budget.
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
The Starmer/Burnham struggle within Labour has quite big implications for the Lib Dems. Starmer’s old Labour right positioning gives the LDs acres of political space but is hostile to cooperation; the two parties' social and geographical bases are quite distinct. 1/2
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
First trip to Southampton, and a well-deserved point. Still top!
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Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Useful reminder from Peter Kellner on the problems we refuse to acknowledge are getting better, and the politics of hopelessness that this breeds open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
At this stage, the closest parallel to the Starmer government is Tony Abbott in 2013-15: won a landslide on a 'change' platform, tightly bound by pledges, damaged by unpopular budget decisions and given little credit for promises delivered. Starmer and Reeves will hope to find a better way out.
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Political Quarterly @politicalquarterly.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
David Marquand’s Intellectual & Political Legacy SI edited by @pjsloman.bsky.social Colin Crouch & Ben Jackson with @emilyrobinson.bsky.social Will Hutton @npjgarland.bsky.social @anthonybarnett.bsky.social Hilary Wainwright Andrew Gamble Jean Seaton & + politicalquarterly.org.uk/collections/...
politicalquarterly.org.uk
David Marquand’s Intellectual and Political Legacy
David Marquand, who died in April 2024, was a prominent figure in late 20th century British politics. This collection is devoted to analysing, criticising and celebrating his political and academic co...
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
I'm looking forward to taking part in the rebooted Liberal Summer School on 12 August - joining Stuart White, Frances Foley and Vicky Pryce to talk about economics and empowerment
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Welsh Labour's decision to introduce closed-list PR for the Senedd looks more foolish with every week that passes. STV would have allowed Labour to benefit from incumbents' personal votes and attract anti-Reform preferences
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
The new Pensions Commission is an important move by the government - surely we need something similar on child poverty, once the ministerial taskforce has finished its work? www.ft.com/content/5208...
ft.com
UK pensions overhaul looms as minister warns of slump in retirement income
Torsten Bell says government will ‘complete the job’ of Blair-era reforms
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
New article: bringing two of my research interests together, I've explored what the Liberal Democrats' short-lived support for UBI in the early 1990s and early 2020s tells us about the politics of 'big ideas'. Available open access at @bjpir.bsky.social: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
It's great to see this paper by Ewan Robertson out in Political Studies - a rigorous and deeply-researched analysis of the drivers of in-work benefit reforms
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
The 1906, 1964 and 1997 governments all took several years to work out a coherent social security policy; some might ask if Wilson ever got there. If the Starmer government is serious about reducing poverty, this is a natural point for a reset and a proper review of the social safety-net.
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
It's great to see our special collection on 'Governing from the Centre-Left in the 2020s' out in the latest issue of Political Quarterly, including articles on Portugal, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and the US: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/1467923x...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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Stuart White @stuartgwhite.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
What would an anti-oligarchic, republican economy look like? UBI? Wealth tax? Workplace democracy? Strong trade unions? Investment democracy? I explore a radical republican economics in my new book, 'The Wealth of Freedom', which is now out online. academic.oup.com/book/60075
academic.oup.com
The Wealth of Freedom: Radical Republican Political Economy
Abstract. What is an economy for? The republican tradition in political thought offers a compelling way of exploring this question. The economy is for the
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Political Quarterly @politicalquarterly.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
Governing from the Centre Left in the 2020s Collection featuring Portugal NZ US Australia & Germany @eunicegoes.bsky.social Grant Duncan @claire-ainsley.bsky.social @emilyrosefoley.bsky.social & Rob Manwaring Jörg Michael Dostal @pjsloman.bsky.social politicalquarterly.org.uk/collections/...
politicalquarterly.org.uk
Governing from the Centre Left in the 2020s
The first half of the 2020s has been a turbulent period in global politics, with the Covid pandemic, surging inflation, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and the fall and return of Donald Trump. Th...
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Colm Murphy @colmpm.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
I'm thrilled to have been published in Past & Present. Diving into the fractious politics of rich-country macroeconomics after 1973, I use the neglected case of protectionist Keynesians to rethink what happened, and why. I highlight statecraft, geopolitics, and Maier's 'territoriality'. (1/2)
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
This seems like a good time to highlight Rob Manwaring and Emily Foley's recent @politicalquarterly.bsky.social piece on the Albanese government's first term, though the conclusion now feels unduly pessimistic. What should British Labour learn from the ALP? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
The Contradictions of the Albanese Labor Government in Australia: The Promise and Limits of ‘Thin’ Labourism
In 2022, after nearly a decade in opposition, the Australian Labor Party under the leadership of Anthony Albanese won office. The Albanese government faced a raft of challenges in government with tou...
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
This is a lovely piece by David Runciman, of @ppfideas.bsky.social. At a time when universities are running away from the lecture, the podcasting boom shows the appetite for serious, long-form and, yes, didactic content by people with specialist understanding. www.theideasletter.org/essay/podcas...
theideasletter.org
Podcast University - The Ideas Letter
The popularity of podcasts evinces a strong public appetite for traditional academic content—belying concerns that universities’ pedagogical methods are outdated. Runciman contends that podcasting pre...
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Ben Griffin @historygriffin.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Essential reading for historians of modern Britain.
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
The most amazing thing here - even more than the Jim Laxer economics - is the way Carney is appropriating 'maîtres chez nous' as a Canadian nationalist slogan
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Nick Garland @npjgarland.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
It was a massive privilege to take part in a @politicalquarterly.bsky.social symposium on the life & work of David Marquand in January. My article for the forthcoming special issue has now been published. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Revisionism as Statecraft: David Marquand, the SDP Split and the Politics of Community
This article addresses a surprisingly neglected aspect of David Marquand's intellectual development: his career as a politician. Hence, it locates his intellectual efforts from the mid-1970s through ....
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
Every time Rachel Reeves ratchets up her commitment to her fiscal rules, I'm reminded of Ryan Walter's piece on Wayne Swan and Julia Gillard's surplus pledge ('Economic management, rhetorical tactics and the cost of promises'). It's well worth a read: press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/pr...
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
A big reason it's hard to make the argument for higher taxes is an ever higher percentage of spending is going to small groups with high needs (social care, disability benefit, SEND, children's care, hospital longstayers...) rather than on visible infrastructure or general services.
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Political Quarterly @politicalquarterly.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
The 2024 general election which brought Sir Keir Starmer’s government to power was a strange political earthquake. @pjsloman.bsky.social summarises our new collection. Featuring @kitkowol.bsky.social Caitlin Milazzo, Siim Trumm, @aduggan.bsky.social and more. Read now: buff.ly/4hSqsaq #ukpol
buff.ly
On the 2024 UK General Election
The Political Quarterly has brought together a diverse set of political scientists, historians, and policy specialists to analyse the campaign and the result.
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Please join us for this public lecture on 17 March. Who knows what British foreign policy will be dealing with by then...
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Colm Murphy @colmpm.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
The full @politicalquarterly.bsky.social special collection on the 2024 UK General Election is now available: a formidable group of historians, political scientists, and analysts. Very glad to have co-edited it with @pjsloman.bsky.social and Ben Jackson. politicalquarterly.org.uk/collections/...
politicalquarterly.org.uk
The 2024 UK General Election
The 2024 general election was a landslide in the true sense of the word, as the collapse in Conservative and SNP support allowed Sir Keir Starmer to take power with a large parliamentary majority. Thi...
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
I'm delighted that Felix Roemer is coming to Cambridge on Wednesday 12 February to talk about his book Inequality Knowledge - a landmark history of poverty and inequality statistics in modern Britain. 5.30pm, Sidney Sussex College, with a response by @pramospinto.bsky.social. All welcome!
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Marta Miori @martamiori.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
New paper on the most disproportionate UK election: how Labour doubled its seat share with a 1.6 point increase in vote share in 2024! With @profjanegreen.bsky.social Out now in @politicalquarterly.bsky.social Link: doi.org/10.1111/1467... Short thread below🧵
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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
"We announced that we would leave the European Union before we had a plan for growth outside the EU." A remarkable thing to admit. Not hard to see it becoming as politically disastrous as Liam Byrne's 'no money' note...
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George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
Brilliant essay by @npjgarland.bsky.social on Labour’s competing intellectual traditions and the case for “old-fashioned, even boring” social democracy. journals.lwbooks.co.uk/renewal/vol-...
journals.lwbooks.co.uk
Plain Old Labour - Lawrence Wishart
Keir Starmer�s Labour has a strikingly simple perspective on the party�s history: of a series of good Labour governments affecti
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José Tomás Labarca @jtlabarca.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
My #openaccess paper on 1960s-1970s UK fiscal politics: Unintended institutionalization: how the politics of symbolic fiscal practices shapes economic policy academic.oup.com/ser/advance-...
academic.oup.com
Unintended institutionalization: how the politics of symbolic fiscal practices shapes economic policy
Abstract. Sociologists and political economists frequently study the politics of economic ideas, but the official statistics that enable decision-making an
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Colm Murphy @colmpm.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
It's gratifying to see the first few articles of @politicalquarterly.bsky.social's forthcoming special collection on the 2024 general election trickle out online - and in open access form! Available to read right now are... 🧵
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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
I wrote about the Liberal Democrats' general election campaign for the Political Quarterly election special: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Ed Davey's Tory Removals: The Liberal Democrats and the 2024 General Election
The 2024 general election represented a remarkable comeback for the Liberal Democrats. Less than a decade on from the coalition and the 2015 election debacle, Sir Ed Davey's party reclaimed third-par...
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