@davidgauke
@davidgauke.bsky.social
Recovering politician, writes columns, editor of The Case For The Centre Right.
My piece for ConHome on the “politics of trying” and why good intentions are not enough to over one hard facts. conservativehome.com/2026/08/17/d...
David Gauke: If at first Burnham doesn't succeed, he's going to tell you he'll try trying again | Conservative Home
Burnham is a Prime Minister who demonstrably tries, and the public will appreciate that for a while. But it is ultimately not good intentions that matter. Trying must be followed by succeeding, and ...
conservativehome.com
Why solving the prison capacity crisis is hard but unavoidable. My piece for Arguably on why there’s no alternative to an early release scheme. www.arguably.uk/p/britain-is...
Britain is in denial on the prisons crisis
Burnham’s decision to pause early releases is good politics but bad policy
arguably.uk
Why solving the prison capacity crisis is hard but unavoidable. My piece for Arguably on why there’s no alternative to an early release scheme. www.arguably.uk/p/britain-is...
Britain is in denial on the prisons crisis
Burnham’s decision to pause early releases is good politics but bad policy
arguably.uk
Britain is in denial on the prisons crisis – essential reading from @davidgauke.bsky.social on how we could run out of places *by November* if Burnham abandons the sentencing reforms. www.arguably.uk/p/britain-is...
Britain is in denial on the prisons crisis
Burnham’s decision to pause early releases is good politics but bad policy
arguably.uk
There are some important lessons to be learnt from the failures of the Conservative government of 2019-2024 but it looks like both Burnham & Badenoch are learning the wrong ones. My ConHome piece on the new government plus “the purge of the wets”. conservativehome.com/2026/07/20/d...
David Gauke: Getting the blame game wrong - you purge if you want to but it's lazy who they are purging | Conservative Home
Look at the drivers of the decline of the Conservatives’ popularity: there was always likely to be a moment when Johnson’s lack of integrity was likely to cause a political crisis; there was always li...
conservativehome.com
Great piece this. "The real problem was that what the party offered in 2019 was incoherent and implausible and relied on a coalition of supporters that was inherently unstable...."
@davidgauke@davidgauke.bsky.social · 4w agoThere are some important lessons to be learnt from the failures of the Conservative government of 2019-2024 but it looks like both Burnham & Badenoch are learning the wrong ones. My ConHome piece on the new government plus “the purge of the wets”. conservativehome.com/2026/07/20/d...
There are some important lessons to be learnt from the failures of the Conservative government of 2019-2024 but it looks like both Burnham & Badenoch are learning the wrong ones. My ConHome piece on the new government plus “the purge of the wets”. conservativehome.com/2026/07/20/d...
David Gauke: Getting the blame game wrong - you purge if you want to but it's lazy who they are purging | Conservative Home
Look at the drivers of the decline of the Conservatives’ popularity: there was always likely to be a moment when Johnson’s lack of integrity was likely to cause a political crisis; there was always li...
conservativehome.com
There’s a good case for more devolution but there are big problems in Andy Burnham’s plans. My piece for ConHome. conservativehome.com/2026/07/06/d...
David Gauke: Burnham's devolution plans won't work | Conservative Home
This, I repeat, is not an argument against devolution. But it is an argument for a hard-headed devolution that considers local responsibility to be more important than regional equality, and makes the...
conservativehome.com
There’s a good case for more devolution but there are big problems in Andy Burnham’s plans. My piece for ConHome. conservativehome.com/2026/07/06/d...
David Gauke: Burnham's devolution plans won't work | Conservative Home
This, I repeat, is not an argument against devolution. But it is an argument for a hard-headed devolution that considers local responsibility to be more important than regional equality, and makes the...
conservativehome.com
What the Makerfield and Aberdeen South by-elections tell us. My piece for ConHome on a good night for the Tories and why tactical voting could be disastrous for Reform. conservativehome.com/2026/06/22/d...
David Gauke: Bye bye to the big by-election everyone remembers, but don't forget it wasn't the only one | Conservative Home
In the context of Kemi Badenoch’s improving personal rating (now the least unpopular party leader in the country) and the growing evidence that the air is leaving the Reform balloon, in the gains of 1...
conservativehome.com
Quote re Burnham which really worries me. ‘His habit of saying whatever the audience in front of him wants to hear will, I fear, make him a poor Prime Minister, but it is an annoyingly successful approach to winning elections.’
David Gauke has picked out what, for me was the main message of the recent by elections, not much mentioned. Reform is very vulnerable to tactical voting. It was there in Makerfield, including defections from Conservatives who want to stop Farage.
@davidgauke@davidgauke.bsky.social · 2mo agoWhat the Makerfield and Aberdeen South by-elections tell us. My piece for ConHome on a good night for the Tories and why tactical voting could be disastrous for Reform. conservativehome.com/2026/06/22/d...
What the Makerfield and Aberdeen South by-elections tell us. My piece for ConHome on a good night for the Tories and why tactical voting could be disastrous for Reform. conservativehome.com/2026/06/22/d...
David Gauke: Bye bye to the big by-election everyone remembers, but don't forget it wasn't the only one | Conservative Home
In the context of Kemi Badenoch’s improving personal rating (now the least unpopular party leader in the country) and the growing evidence that the air is leaving the Reform balloon, in the gains of 1...
conservativehome.com
It is time for political parties to be brave and honest. Our welfare spending is not sustainable. We must scrap the triple lock, writes @davidgauke.bsky.social
We must scrap the triple lock
It is time for political parties to be brave and honest. Our welfare spending is not sustainable.
politicshome.com
Good piece - contains a link to a Police Professional piece by Tony Thompson that is really worth your time also:
Police Professional | First lie wins First lie wins – Police Professional
policeprofessional.com
@davidgauke@davidgauke.bsky.social · 2mo agoWhy what went wrong when the police arrived at the scene might have nothing to do with race, but the police still need to change their wider approach. Plus why Reform’s response shows why the Tories can’t do business with them. My ConHome piece on the Nowak case. conservativehome.com/2026/06/08/d...
Why what went wrong when the police arrived at the scene might have nothing to do with race, but the police still need to change their wider approach. Plus why Reform’s response shows why the Tories can’t do business with them. My ConHome piece on the Nowak case. conservativehome.com/2026/06/08/d...
David Gauke: The political lessons of the murder of Henry Nowak, are not just about policing and the law | Conservative Home
Contrary to his parents' wishes, the murder has become a political – and divisive – issue. Naturally there is close scrutiny of how the police acted and about wider police culture. But it has also re...
conservativehome.com
How Andy Burnham has to speak to Makerfield voters, Labour members & the bond market - and what his policy contortions tell us about the Labour Party. My piece for ConHome. conservativehome.com/2026/05/25/d...
David Gauke: Burnham cannot muddle through fiscal policy forever | Conservative Home
At some point tough decisions on public spending are going to have to be made, and neither Burnham nor his party are reconciled to that. He can kick the issue of EU membership into the long grass, but...
conservativehome.com
Makerfield voted 65% Leave in 2016 (the 75th most Leave seat). Over the next few weeks, there’ll be plenty of news coverage about Brexit (reset negotiations, 10th anniversary). Andy Burnham is a rejoiner. If Reform can’t make Brexit work for them here, it’ll tell us a lot.
In the circumstances where a centre left government will have failed but most of the country does not want a Reform government, there is plenty of space for a centre right platform to prosper. My piece for ConHome. conservativehome.com/2026/05/11/d...
David Gauke: Cannons to the right of them, cannons to the left - Labour's dilemma is also that of the Tories | Conservative Home
The strategic challenge for the Tories is that it has been losing support to both its right and left. Move decisively to the right and more votes get lost to left-wing parties, move decisively to the...
conservativehome.com
My ConHome piece on the election results and why the Conservatives need to change strategy and appeal more to swing voters and anti-Reform tactical voters. conservativehome.com/2026/05/11/d...
David Gauke: Cannons to the right of them, cannons to the left - Labour's dilemma is also that of the Tories | Conservative Home
The strategic challenge for the Tories is that it has been losing support to both its right and left. Move decisively to the right and more votes get lost to left-wing parties, move decisively to the...
conservativehome.com
🚨 OUT NOW 🚨 A Tory revival or one final nail on May 7? 🔵 Tory MP Jack Rankin, former minister @davidgauke.bsky.social, and ConservativeHome's Tali Fraser join @alaintolhurst.bsky.social and @matildamartin.bsky.social to discuss whether the Conservative Party can recover 🎧 Listen: pod.fo/e/40b39b
This is fascinating about a part of the electorate that is too often ignored by our political parties.
Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 4mo agoNew post just out: "Where's the centre?" I have an exclusive new poll which challenges conventional wisdom on one of the biggest questions in British politics. It turns out median voters aren't actually in the centre. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/w...
It was worse in the 1970s but it can certainly feel like history repeating itself. My piece for ConHome on the echoes of Tony Benn we’re hearing today. conservativehome.com/2026/04/27/d...
David Gauke: It was worse in the 1970s but it can certainly feel like history repeating itself | Conservative Home
We know now that the country got out of its 1970s malaise thanks to a government committed to fiscal discipline and a market economy. Were matters worse in the seventies compared to today? Yes. Will...
conservativehome.com
If you’re looking for radical economic reform from Reform, think again. My piece for ConHome. conservativehome.com/2026/04/13/d...
David Gauke: If you're looking for radical economic reform from Reform, think again | Conservative Home
For all the hope of bringing renewed dynamism to the British economy, Reform UK will not have assembled a pro-growth electoral coalition. The country may well need a brave and radical government, but ...
conservativehome.com
If you’re looking for radical economic reform from Reform, think again. My piece for ConHome. conservativehome.com/2026/04/13/d...
David Gauke: If you're looking for radical economic reform from Reform, think again | Conservative Home
For all the hope of bringing renewed dynamism to the British economy, Reform UK will not have assembled a pro-growth electoral coalition. The country may well need a brave and radical government, but ...
conservativehome.com
How should policymakers respond to higher energy costs? My ConHome piece on two unpopular realities - we cannot afford to do much, and that the price mechanism is a useful way to change behaviour. conservativehome.com/2026/03/30/d...
David Gauke: The short term assumptions fuelling the petrol debate show politics still has its head in the sand | Conservative Home
The Government – hoping to change the subject from scheduled fuel duty rises – accused fuel retailers of “price gouging” or“profiteering” despite no evidence to support that. Tory opposition is smart ...
conservativehome.com
a more serious contribution to the debate on fuel prices than we have seen from the official opposition parties
@davidgauke@davidgauke.bsky.social · 5mo agoHow should policymakers respond to higher energy costs? My ConHome piece on two unpopular realities - we cannot afford to do much, and that the price mechanism is a useful way to change behaviour. conservativehome.com/2026/03/30/d...
How should policymakers respond to higher energy costs? My ConHome piece on two unpopular realities - we cannot afford to do much, and that the price mechanism is a useful way to change behaviour. conservativehome.com/2026/03/30/d...
David Gauke: The short term assumptions fuelling the petrol debate show politics still has its head in the sand | Conservative Home
The Government – hoping to change the subject from scheduled fuel duty rises – accused fuel retailers of “price gouging” or“profiteering” despite no evidence to support that. Tory opposition is smart ...
conservativehome.com
My ConHome column on Iran and why British politicians should keep their distance from Donald Trump. conservativehome.com/2026/03/16/d...
David Gauke: Donald Trump is not our friend and all parties should be wary of being too close | Conservative Home
Wanting the US action against Iran to replace an evil regime with something much better is one thing, but the odds were always that is not going to be the case. In such circumstances, reticence in su...
conservativehome.com