To say 2024 has been an eventful year in British politics would be an understatement. Labour won a landslide general election, the Conservative Party experienced its greatest electoral defeat in its long history, Reform UK saw its leader Nigel Farage finally become an MP after seven failed attempts, and some of the most violent street riots in years broke out over the summer. The LSE British Politics and Policy blog covered all of these changes and events with academics from LSE and beyond showcasing how their research can shed light on a quickly changing political landscape. In case you missed them when published, here are the 10 most read posts of 2024. 

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What a drag – the impact of the frozen personal allowance on those with lower incomes

Successive budgets have frozen the Personal Tax Allowance that can be deducted from the incomes of people in the UK before tax has to be paid. Victor Bulmer-Thomas writes that while this policy is widely regarded as a “stealth tax”, more attention should be paid to its impact on those with lower incomes.

It’s a mistake to call Reform UK “far-right”

The use of the term “far-right” to describe political parties such as Reform UK is unhelpful. The term causes too visceral a reaction and at the same time is too broad to be meaningful. Tim Bale argues for a distinction between the “extreme right” and the “populist radical right” as more illuminating categories that can help us make sense of right-wing political parties.

The truth about “two-tier policing”

Rioters, far right activists, as well as owner of X Elon Musk, have been propagating the idea of “two-tier policing”. The claim is that police is overly lenient towards protesters of progressive causes and racial minority protesters, compared to others. Lilie Chouliaraki and Kathryn Claire Higgins argue that this claim gets things backwards, and identify this is an instance of a communication strategy of reverse victimization by the far right.

The case for lowering the voting age to 16

The majority of people in Britain think that Labour’s potential policy of giving 16-year-olds the vote is a bad idea. But the experience of Scotland, Brazil, Austria and other countries where the voting age is 16 shows that the concerns many have are misplaced, and in fact this policy could produce more democratically engaged citizens in later life, argues Laura Serra.

Solving the housing crisis without building new houses

What economists think of Labour’s economic policy

In the run up to the general election, Labour lack a “grand theory” of economics and have several blind spots, argues a group of economists reviewing the party’s economic policy. Yet, the same economists find a significant economic agenda in Labour’s more pragmatic and less ideological approach to the economy, including a more activist role for the state, writes Neil Lee.

Global Britain has failed – what next?

The vision of post-Brexit Britain was one of international trade deals that would propel the country into a new era of prosperity. That vision of “Global Britain” is now dead. Thomas Sampson argues that the only viable alternative is a closer trade relationship with the EU.

 The Conservatives didn’t lose because they weren’t “conservative enough”

Labour’s Great British Energy and National Wealth Fund: good ideas that need more work

Two new public bodies – a National Wealth Fund and Great British Energy – are at the core of Labour’s plans for the economy and net zero. Daisy Jameson and Mark Howat set out what policymakers would need to consider when setting up both bodies to maximise their effectiveness.

To reform inheritance tax, Labour needs to look abroad

Inheritance tax is one of the few taxes the Labour Government hasn’t ruled out raising. This is an opportunity for the UK to make the tax more fair and progressive, generating more income that could pay for contentious policies like the two-child benefit limit and universal winter fuel allowance. Dan Goss argues that the UK has a lot to learn from Norway and South Korea about  taxing inheritance. 

All articles posted on this blog give the views of the author(s), and not the position of LSE British Politics and Policy, nor of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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