Comparing the dynamics of party leadership survival in Britain and Australia: Brown, Rudd and Gillard

This article examines the interaction between the respective party structures of the Australian Labor Party and the British Labour Party as a means of assessing the strategic options facing aspiring challengers for the party leadership. Noting the relative neglect within the scholarly literature on examining forced exits that occur; and attempted forced exits that do not occur, this article takes as its case study the successful forced exits of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, and the failure to remove Gordon Brown. In doing so the article challenges the prevailing assumption that the likely success of leadership evictions are solely determined by the leadership procedures that parties adopt. Noting the significance of circumstances and party cultures, the article advances two scenarios through which eviction attempts can be understood: first, forced exits triggered through the activation of formal procedures (Rudd and Gillard); second, attempts to force an exit by informal pressures outside of the formal procedures which are overcome by the incumbent (Brown)

Effect of remote ischaemic conditioning on clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI): a single-blind randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Remote ischaemic conditioning with transient ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm has been shown to reduce myocardial infarct size in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). We investigated whether remote ischaemic conditioning could reduce the incidence of cardiac death and hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months. METHODS: We did an international investigator-initiated, prospective, single-blind, randomised controlled trial (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI) at 33 centres across the UK, Denmark, Spain, and Serbia. Patients (age >18 years) with suspected STEMI and who were eligible for PPCI were randomly allocated (1:1, stratified by centre with a permuted block method) to receive standard treatment (including a sham simulated remote ischaemic conditioning intervention at UK sites only) or remote ischaemic conditioning treatment (intermittent ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm through four cycles of 5-min inflation and 5-min deflation of an automated cuff device) before PPCI. Investigators responsible for data collection and outcome assessment were masked to treatment allocation. The primary combined endpoint was cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02342522) and is completed. FINDINGS: Between Nov 6, 2013, and March 31, 2018, 5401 patients were randomly allocated to either the control group (n=2701) or the remote ischaemic conditioning group (n=2700). After exclusion of patients upon hospital arrival or loss to follow-up, 2569 patients in the control group and 2546 in the intervention group were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At 12 months post-PPCI, the Kaplan-Meier-estimated frequencies of cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure (the primary endpoint) were 220 (8·6%) patients in the control group and 239 (9·4%) in the remote ischaemic conditioning group (hazard ratio 1·10 [95% CI 0·91-1·32], p=0·32 for intervention versus control). No important unexpected adverse events or side effects of remote ischaemic conditioning were observed. INTERPRETATION: Remote ischaemic conditioning does not improve clinical outcomes (cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure) at 12 months in patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI. FUNDING: British Heart Foundation, University College London Hospitals/University College London Biomedical Research Centre, Danish Innovation Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, TrygFonden

Conservative Ministers in the Coalition Government of 2010-15: Evidence of Bias in the Ministerial Selections of David Cameron?

The article uses a data set of the 2010–15 Parliamentary Conservative Party (PCP)to test a series of hypotheses in order to determine whether those selected forministerial office during the coalition era were representative of the PCP as awhole. Thefindings show no significant associations or bias by Cameron interms of age, schooling, regional base, morality, voting for Cameron in theConservative Party leadership election and, most significantly, gender.Significant associations or bias were evident in terms of Cameron’s patronagewith regard to university education and electoral marginality. Thefindingsdemonstrate that any critique of current Conservative ministers based ontheir supposed elitism stems from the institutional and structural biaseswithin the Conservative Party at candidate selection level, and cannot beattributed to bias on behalf of Cameron

Divisions within the British Parliamentary Labour Party under Keir Starmer: Results of a Cluster Analysis

This paper offers a methodologically innovative two-stage approach for studying divisions among parliamentary representatives. Using the parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) as our case study, we construct a dataset of all Labour MPs elected in the 2019 general election, along with their nominations in the 2020 Labour Party leadership and deputy leadership elections and their membership of, or affiliation with, various party-aligned organisations. We then conduct a cluster analysis based on this dataset, which reveals the existence of a two-cluster model – comprised of the Mainstream (n = 162) and the Left (n = 33) – and a five-cluster model, in which the Left exists alongside the Tribune Soft Left, the Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East Soft Left, the Unaligned Centrists, and the Right. Finally, we test the robustness of our clusters via a canonical correspondence analysis of the language used by MPs on social media (Twitter/X) and their contributions to parliamentary debates (Hansard). Our analysis shows that the MPs from different clusters do use different language to one another in both fora. We also find that the deputy leader, Angela Rayner, has a broader base of support among the PLP than its current party leader Keir Starmer

'Rhetorical Style and Issue Emphasis within the Conference Speeches of UKIP’s Nigel Farage 2010-2014'

This paper makes a distinctive contribution to the academic literature on the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) by focusing in on a new area of research – i.e. the political rhetoric of Nigel Farage in relation to his Conference speeches. Our first research question asks how his Conference speeches are constructed and delivered and identifies what rhetorical techniques are deployed to maximise their impact. In methodological terms we address this question through rhetorical political analysis (RPA). Our second research question examines the extent to which his Conference speeches are changing. We ask whether there is evidence that Farage is broadening the range of issue appeals within his rhetoric (as one would expect if UKIP were making that transition from an anti-establishment to a mainstream party). Our method for this involves the use of N-Vivo – a computer coding programme – which quantifies which policies and issues are being used within speeches

Enoch Powell’s 'Rivers of Blood' speech: A Rhetorical Political Analysis

This article exploits the developing political science literature on rhetorical political analysis (RPA) and applies it to one of the most controversial speeches of the post-war era in British politics. Alongside an analysis of the roots and impact of Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech the article deconstructs Powell’s rhetoric and oratory. In doing so the article moves beyond the traditional modes of analysing the speech, which focus on the reproduction of ‘new racisms’ and that are prevalent within the sociological and social psychology academic literature. By using RPA the article considers the speech through the use of the rhetorical techniques of persuasion (i) appeals to ethos – that is, the persona of the speaker; (ii) pathos – that is, the range of emotions evoked; (iii) or logos – that is, the evidence that supports the arguments underpinning the speech. This type of analysis showcases how and why Powell’s speech made such an impact when just as inflammatory comments had been uttered by other Conservatives before 1968