Nick Tyrone

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Nick Tyrone
Nick Tyrone Spectator cartoon
Born11 December 1972 (1972-12-11) (age 51)
Occupation(s)Journalist, novelist, writer
Notable workApocalypse Delayed: Why the Left is Still in Trouble; Politics is Murder
MovementOrange Book Liberalism
SpousePolly Mackenzie
ChildrenThree

Nick Tyrone is a journalist, novelist and writer who has published articles in The Spectator,[1] Daily Express, The Independent, New Statesman.[2] He has written several books including Dead Idol, Apocalypse Delayed: Why the Left is Still in Trouble, and Politics is Murder. He has been described by Jon Rentoul in The Independent as a "waspish writer and natural troublemaker".[3]

Political career[edit]

He was the Director of Operations and Finance as well as the Treasurer of the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign that in May 2011 sought (unsuccessfully) to change the UK voting system. Tyrone later told the BBC that the campaign once considered putting out inflatable replicas of MPs' bottoms for the public to "kick".[4]

Tyrone went on to serve as Head of Partnerships and Public Affairs for the Electoral Reform Society, from 2011 to 2014. In contrast to the aims of Yes to Fairer Votes and the Electoral Reform Society, Tyrone revealed in 2016 that he opposed replacing the First-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system for Westminster elections, believing "... FPTP is necessary".[5]

For a period, he was the Executive Director of Centreforum, the think tank most known for the book The Orange Book: Reclaiming Liberalism which later became the Education Policy Institute. He left to join British Influence in the wake of the Brexit referendum in 2016.[6]

From 2016 to 2019 Tyrone served as Director General of the Red Tap Initiative, which aspired to “… grasp the opportunities that Brexit will give us to cut red tape in sensible ways”.[7]

He was a known member of the Liberal Democrats from 2008 to 2016,[8] having subsequently written articles criticising the party.[9][10]

He is currently an Associate Fellow at the think tank Bright Blue.[11]

Political forecasting[edit]

Ahead of the 2015 General Election, Tyrone predicted that the Liberal Democrats would receive “17 percent” of the popular vote and that the vote share for the two largest parties appeared “on course for an all time low”.[12][13] The two largest parties subsequently both increased their vote share, while the Liberal Democrats received 7.9%.

In 2015, Tyrone argued that fellow pro-Europeans should give their “… gratitude to Nigel Farage for hanging around the British political scene just a little bit longer” as he believed it would ensure “the pro-Europeans win”.[14] In the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum a majority of votes were cast in favour of the UK leaving the European Union, which occurred in 2020.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Nick Tyrone". Spectator.co.uk. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Nick Tyrone, Author". Newstatesman.com. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  3. ^ Rentoul, Jon (5 August 2020). "The time may have come for the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party to merge". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022.
  4. ^ Mason, Chris; Sinclair, Camellia (20 March 2021). "The Forgotten Referendum". BBC News.
  5. ^ Tyrone, Nick (13 January 2016). "Why I became a First Past the Post convert - nicktyrone.com". Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  6. ^ Pack, Mark (3 October 2015). "Nick Tyrone leaves CentreForum think tank". markpack.org.uk.
  7. ^ "Home - The Red Tape Initiative". web.archive.org. 23 April 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  8. ^ Tyrone, Nick (18 June 2021). "Why I was so wrong about the Lib Dems". The Spectator. London. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  9. ^ Tyrone, Nick (6 May 2021). "Why are the Lib Dems siding with France in the Jersey crisis?". The Spectator. London. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  10. ^ Tyrone, Nick (27 April 2020). "The Lib Dems' Ramadan stunt is spectacularly bad politics". The Spectator. London. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Nick Tyrone". Brightblue.org.uk. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  12. ^ Tyrone, Nick (19 May 2014). "How bad will the 2015 general election be for the Lib Dems? - nicktyrone.com". Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  13. ^ Tyrone, Nick (21 January 2015). "One thing we can say about the polls: the vote share for the two largest parties appears on course for an all time low in May - nicktyrone.com". Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  14. ^ Nick (15 May 2015). "Why Farage hanging around like a bad smell is great for British pro-Europeans - nicktyrone.com". Retrieved 31 March 2024.