Timothy Stanley

Timothy Randolph Stanley (born 1982) is a British historian and political theorist. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and now teaches at the University of Sussex.
Historical theory
Stanley is carrying out research on postwar American political history. His forthcoming book, Sailing Against the Wind, is a critique of the concept of a realigning election. It argues that Ronald Reagan's victory in the 1980 presidential election was the result of President Jimmy Carter's unpopularity rather than a generally perceived rightward drift in American popular politics. Stanley has written extensively about the Democratic primaries campaign of Edward Kennedy. He believes that Kennedy was denied the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination by historical accident. The political implication of Stanley's thesis is that the Democratic Party should embrace populist economic ideas in preference to its more recent pro-business policies.
The End of Politics
Timothy Stanley was a co-author with Alexander Lee of The End of Politics: Triangulation, Realignment and the Battle for the Centre Ground. The book argues that Tony Blair’s leadership of the Labour Party heralded an era of triangulation in modern British politics. As parties competed for the centre ground so they began to erode their traditional values and demographic support. This has created fractures in patterns of political support and encouraged previously loyal Labour or Conservative voters to identify with minority parties and pressure group politics. Stanley and Lee argue for a politics based upon community and recognition of inter-dependence. The book is the first part of an ongoing exposition upon the philosophy of Communitarianism.
Politics
Stanley stood for the Labour Party in the 2005 general election. He is regarded as being on the left of the Labour Party and while chair of the Cambridge University Labour Club was an outspoken opponent of the Iraq War. He is a Traditionalist Catholic.
Further reading
"Gordon Brown, Take Note", The Guardian, 2006
 
< Prev   Next >