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I questioned its usefulness when it taught me the Greek for 'my girlfriend is a werewolf.' (Η κοπέλα μου είναι λυκάνθρωπος)

Oh and remember that prominence depends more on networking, confidence, self-promotion, appearance, and desire than it does on ability

I don’t think the Daily Express counts as the spotlight 😉. He’s always been a prominent figure in that milieu, and it’s one that’s well funded, has excellent contacts, and easy access to the right wing media. He says what they want to hear. He’s never gone away. And compared to Patrick Minford… 🙄

He’s part of a milieu of multiple free market and libertarian organisations on both sides of the Atlantic. Some are narrowly ideological (Legatum, Heritage), some are heterodox, pluralist, and sometimes interesting (IEA, Cato). Singham is one of the least intellectually impressive figures involved.

Don't be misled by the name, The Growth Commission is not a government advisory body. It's an 'independent' think tank, closely linked to the other Tufton Street organisation and with the same opaque funding. It's a right-wing free market advocacy group. It's been publishing reports since 2023.

But also ask about our institutions and the failure of representative democracy that allowed the decision to be taken.

Chartism was divided into two strands, those who favoured ‘moral force’ and those who supported ‘physical force’ - non-violence v violence. Again there is a big historiography on the effectiveness of each. The labour movement prefers romantic fiction to history.

Protest politics is by definition the action of those who have no access to power. It’s why it relies on political action by those who do if it is to be successful. If the state is hostile then its purpose is to attempt to mobilise action that will coerce the state to act.

The answer to your point is, possibly. There isn’t really a consensus other than changes were precipitated by the War and women’s role in it.

There is a big historical debate over the relative effectiveness of the older and larger non-militant NUWSS (suffragists) and the militant WSPU (suffragettes). The big suffrage campaigns, marches, and demos were the NUWSS. The WSPU engaged in individual acts of direct action.

The problem is when there is no viable political organisation behind them. The Remainer demonstrations are a great example. They did their bit, but the Peoples' Vote organisation fell apart through personal rivalries at the same time. Then you are left with sentiment without action.

The Civil Rights movement would not have succeeded without the SCLC and NAACP behind it. But the march on Washington and King's speech galvanised and legitimised political action.

This is a yes and a no. Overrated yes, useless no. The very visibility of a mass protest makes people feel that they are not alone and makes the previously impossible seem viable. Just ask Tommy Robinson. Another example being the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.

In HE she would have been promoted

It was a great blog. I’ve already had millions of notifications from Substack!