The British political arena has long been an inhospitable place for minor parties. While UKIP is the latest to turn heads, from one election to the next history is littered with failed contenders. Back in the 1980s, it was noted how one of the more significant attempts to challenge the main parties, by the Social Democratic Party, was akin to an …
BNP talking to voters. Image by Matthew Barrett.
This post originally appeared on British Politics and Policy at LSE.
Among academics who study elections and political parties, most accept that the way a party campaigns can have important effects on its overall performance. As scholars such as Ron Johnston and Charles Pattie have argued (and shown), amidst the decline of partisanship, …
Today, Dr Matthew Goodwin has launched a new exploratory study of views among far right supporters toward violence. The study draws on a sample of 2,152 BNP, EDL and UKIP supporters, and for the first time probes the views of these citizens toward inter-group conflict and violence, as well as a wider range of issues. You can download the report …
In the aftermath of the attacks by a supposed ‘lone wolf’ in Norway, the discovery of a violent neo-Nazi cell in Germany and the murder of two Senegalese street traders in Florence, there has occurred an upsurge of interest in right-wing extremist violence: its current levels, its perpetrators, and the underlying causes. Against this backdrop, …
In the aftermath of the atrocities in Norway, the Economist asked Matt Goodwin to discuss the British far-right in light of the events in Norway.
In the aftermath of the atrocities in Norway, the Guardian asked Matt Goodwin to join a roundtable discussion on the far right, with Dan Hodges, journalist Matthew Taylor and Hugh Muir which which you can listen to here.…
The recent attacks in Oslo and Utøya by ‘lone wolf’ Anders Behring Breivik have prompted a tidal wave of reaction and analysis in the international press and blogosphere.
Here, Ballots and Bullets gathers together five pieces of essential reading which get to the heart of events:
Our own Matthew Goodwin argues that the attacks are symptomatic of a rise in politically-motivating …
Based on my expertise on the far-right in Britain and continental Europe it is safe to conclude the following:
1. The distinction between actions and attitudes is an important one. Large majorities of citizens in Europe reject violence, but large numbers are also concerned about the same issues that feature in the ‘Breivik manifesto’: concern over Islam, anxiety over immigration
…
While initially thought to be the work of Islamic fundamentalists, it now appears that the tragic events in Norway are the work of a far-right extremist.
Matthew Goodwin – an expert in the European far-right – provides expert analysis of the motivations of individuals like Anders Behring Breivik, a man widely described as a fundamentalist Christian with political views …
According to Ipsos MORI 75% of Britons believe that immigration is a ‘problem’ while Islamophobia appears to be on the rise.
The three main parties have sought, in their different ways, to address these issues but most of the running has been made by parties beyond the mainstream, on the far-right. Since its disappointing performance in the 2010 general election …
This blog is produced by members of the School of Politics and International Relation at the University of Nottingham, and will include occasional guest pieces. The analysis contained in each entry is informed by our internationally-ranked research, and we hope it will help readers better understand the political dynamics that underpin the world in which we all live.
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