Fascinating insights here on which voters favour leaders with "the so-called ‘dark triad’ of personality traits – sub-clinical psychopathy, Machiavellianism and narcissism." And their reason for doing so - essentially that they think these traits are necessary to 'get things done'.

And very good it is too.

1/ I have done a new article on leadership styles and ‘Southgate-ism’: parables.substack.com/p/getting-th...

Really pleased to see 'Notes on Trust' mentioned by @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social on Guardian #PoliticsLive this morning (8:58): shorturl.at/6AnIa The first in the series looks at four Red Herring explanations for falling trust. It can be read here: parables.substack.com/p/notes-on-t...

For Fathers' Day, Keir Starmer posts a photo of his own father, who died in 2018, and a non-political message. The replies are a torrent of vitriol & cruelty, all with hundreds of Likes. We complain a lot about the quality of leadership, but there's a huge problem with the way we treat politicians

I published Notes on Trust last week, exploring anti-politics. It quotes various research, including by @drjennings.bsky.social & @harryqp.bsky.social As polling closes in #Makerfield, a byelection where “white rage is in the air” according to @willdunn.bsky.social, I’m just re-upping the thread.

This is a fascinating topic. I did an article in 2022, suggesting three factors that explain the rise of ‘reverse aspiration’: a society which is increasingly egalitarian, an economy which has become more unequal, and a culture which is more individualistic/ meritocratic… unherd.com/2022/12/why-...

Really enjoyed these. Few unconnected reflections having spent some time on this issue 1. public consistently ask for long form communication from politicians. Social I think is a dead end for ‘elected’ officials or government. You need other people on there doing politics but ministers? Not sure

It could be interesting to compare "local news deserts" with places where local news still exist My impression in Germany is that we basically have an incumbent disadvantage on the national level But we do still have an incumbent advantage on the local level, especially if they run as independents

These articles, and the previous Substack post about the two deprivations are just so valuable.

Great articles! IMO this is also very true for urban US politics, people apparently had higher trust in their civic leaders when their houses were getting demolished for highways and every cop was being bribed. It’s never been easier to get info about urban politics, & it’s made people miserable

Found these articles – particularly one and two – really excellent in summing up a lot of things I've been thinking about in the last few years.

I wrote something about my thoughts on this last year (forgive the horrible war-on-paragraphs style here, not my choice) labourlist.org/2025/07/labo...

A must read thread

Fascinating stuff here from Chris whose substack is well worth signing up to

The thread as a shareable webpage: https://skywriter.blue/@warringfictions.bsky.social/3mo3s54p45k2t

@warringfictions.bsky.social explores the many reasons why British citizens have gradually stopped trusting politicians. But he offers antidote: The Country-Before-Party test! I’d love to see politicians create a voluntary code of conduct based on these values. Let’s call it the Good Faith Code.

Great thread on the decline in political trust in the UK (red herring explanations & credible ones). I'll add my pet theory - not wholly unrelated to cause 1&2 - that the presence of Radical Right parties/politicians *not excluded from the centre-right ecosystem* pushes down trust ...

I think any current or aspiring political leader should be aware of this thread...

1/ I have written a series of articles this week, ‘Notes on Trust’, about where cynicism towards politicians comes from. The below chart, which I shared last year, was the thing which initially prompted me to write the piece. I just want to set out some of the key arguments here…

Really enjoying these thought-provoking parables.substack.com posts on trust from @warringfictions.bsky.social Latest one's here: parables.substack.com/p/notes-on-t...

"If high exposure reduces democratic trust then the implication, by extension, is that a absolute exposure will reduce faith in our leaders absolutely. The 24-hour press and the social media age could grind trust down to nil unless politicians learn to respond in better ways."

Trust (lack of) in politics - Chris Clarke proposes four root causes: - the decline of social deference - increased exposure, information and scrutiny - the decline of universally trusted information sources - the heterogeneous society open.substack.com/pub/parables...

Chris Clarke ( @warringfictions.bsky.social) with a persuasive argument here that the loss of trust in our politicians is not for the reasons you think. open.substack.com/pub/parables...

Really delighted to see this argument written up by @anooshc.bsky.social for the New Statesman this week: www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-... The original analysis is here: parables.substack.com/p/the-two-de...

A tale of two Broken Britains - my piece on the parallel worlds fuelling different forms of populism, feat. @warringfictions.bsky.social's revealing local election results analysis:

A tale of Two Deprivations - my piece on fascinating analysis of the local election results that finds two very different Broken Britains. With thanks to Chris Clarke, and Citizens Advice:

That's a short thread - there is a ton more graphs (80+! (yes i almost lost my mind)) in the full deck, lots of stuff on each nation. You can get it here: persuasionuk.org/research/may... Thanks to @yougov.co.uk, others who contributed and @anooshc.bsky.social for featuring it in her latest column

With everything going on in the news this week am just re-upping my paper from back in October, Putting Down the Vase. I think that much of it still stands.

A very tired thank you to the voters of #KursaalWard for re-electing me as their councillor!

This bit from Hannah Spencer's maiden speech struck me. On one level, it's just the sort of flimflam people say in maiden speeches or on the campaign trail. But it implies there are bits of the country where these things are not true. Where in the UK do we not see each other as human?

Should Labour move left or right? It’s the wrong question, says Patrick English patrickenglish.substack.com/p/should-lab...

Really interesting re Reform's benefits messaging that Reform tend to overperform in seats ranked higher for worklessness and Greens in seats with more in-work poverty. By @warringfictions.bsky.social

This analysis of UK voting patterns by studying different forms of deprivation is fascinating and provides an explanation for Labour's Green/Reform dilemma. It's the work of Chris Clarke, doing the job of an entire think-tank here. @warringfictions.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/parables...

Here @chriscurtis94.bsky.social tells the sequence, thinking and analysis actually behind ‘hero voters’, inc. how my research @nuffieldcollege.bsky.social on economic insecurity w/ @rosedegeus.bsky.social informed understanding of the economic basis of electoral coalitions pre-2024.

Have been a bit frustrated by some of the conversation about Labour's voter coalition. I've written about who the "Hero Voters" actually were, how we won them, and what we need to do to earn their support next time. chriscurtismk.substack.com/p/who-actual...

Worth reading by @chriscurtis94.bsky.social. Abundantly clear to anyone that spends a cursory amount of time on public opinion that economic insecurity, exacerbated 10x by cost of living crisis is driving political force of our time, fuelling Labour’s woes chriscurtismk.substack.com/p/who-actual...

I think there is a vg case for the Alternative Vote (pluralist majoritarianism) UK's evolving party system - not least as of balanced use for voters on different sides of political spectrum. It allows sincere voting by every voter + strategic choices by those who care www.ft.com/content/38d8...

NEW: After Gorton & Denton, how should we understand the threat to Labour's left? Big new @persuasionuk.bsky.social report out with @38degrees.bsky.social on 'progressive defectors' - Lab 2024 switchers to Greens, Plaid, SNP, Lib Dems. Who are they, who are they not & what's moving them? 🧵

The Two Deprivations open.substack.com/pub/parables...

1/ I have done a data dive on ‘The Two Deprivations’ and the govt’s Green-Reform dilemma: parables.substack.com/p/the-two-de... It references the work of @luketryl.bsky.social @robfordmancs.bsky.social

It’s taboo to admit it, but voters bear some responsibility for the frayed state of Britain | Andy Beckett

Thoughtful and thought-provoking piece from @warringfictions.bsky.social on how a Labour government could achieve 'fiscal conservatism with economic radicalism'. #UKPolitics open.substack.com/pub/parables...

As we settle into a New Year I have done a deep dive into the psychology of debt, the metaphor of the household budget, and how this has come to affect social democratic politics in 2026: parables.substack.com/p/understand...

As I pointed out last year: Bit weird the Mayor of London gets completely unmediated access to broadcast whatever message they like on BBC One at midnight! (Even if in this case I agree with the message.) takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/odds-and-e...

It's a pretty stark chart. I also think @warringfictions.bsky.social has a good set of proposals on how to face the situation. bsky.app/profile/warr...

This is excellent, a very good read. Time to smash the Ming Vase!

I read this Ian Dunt piece just after reading Chris Clarke's paper, link below. Have you seen it? I would be interested in your take. bsky.app/profile/warr...

There’s a lot of good sense in his. I hope Labour listen.