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Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 5m

Similarly, I’ve been thinking about getting a print of this cartoon of Sir Mark Sykes.

Of course, you know, maybe Sykes-Picot was a bad idea. But what a picture!

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Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 13m

Yup! That book was really my intro to him.

Also a great contemporary bio of him that had some amazing stories about him as a barrister.

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Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 17m

(But tbf, the F. E. Smith one was just a great picture all round)

F. E. Smith in his ceremonial whig as Lord Chancellor

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Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 24m

Some pretty shocking footage of white middle-aged men dismissing Beckham. A.A. Gill saying she’s “nothing” and Brian Sewell calling her a “bitch”.

Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 31m

(I didn’t have a Cecil Parkinson poster, but in my uni bedroom I did have framed photos of Lord Salisbury and F. E. Smith…)

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Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 32m

“Take down the Cecil Parkinson poster”

Kamala Harris cautioning someone with concern

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Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 36m

As a former Young Tory, I wish someone had done an intervention for me

Dr Mark | 北马克 |🍉🇦🇺🇲🇾🇹🇭 @ajaanmark.bsky.social · 5h

Are they hoping to start a Young Tory cosplay trend on TikTok
www.thetimes.com/article/8c9a...

Meet the young Tories dreaming of a bright blue future

The Conservatives know they have a problem with Gen Z voters. At the party conference, The Times met a new breed of activists who are embracing the challenge

www.thetimes.com

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Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 52m

Back in May, @adamdrummond.bsky.social and I talked about how there was a centre-right critique of the government’s economic policies *right there* waiting to be made - but the Tories seemed to have no interest in making it

youtu.be/A5XiXIwhzCU?...

Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 56m

Started the Victoria Beckham Netflix documentary and there’s a black leather jacket she’s designed with a huge collar that I absolutely want

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Reposted by Aaron H. Ellis

Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 1d

New ep! I talk to @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk about how to save the Conservative Party

linktr.ee/strategyaaron

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Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 1h

A few weeks ago, I heard some old timer waxing lyrical about Farage, even calling him a “businessman”.

I was so tempted to interrupt and ask what exactly was his business, other than his own political party?

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 1h

GB News pay party political leader Nigel Farage over half a million pounds. The TV channel pays him five times his MP salary - and as much as his other 11 further external jobs put together
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

Nigel Farage earns over £1m from 12 'second jobs' - check how much your MP earns

The Reform UK leader's most lucrative second jobs include hosting on GB News, serving as a brand ambassador for Direct Bullion and recording videos for Cameo

www.mirror.co.uk

Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 10h

This. Can’t find ones better than Adidas but I need some variety

Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 11h

Isn’t this one of those “If my grandmother had wheels, she would’ve been a bike” scenarios, though?

The invasion happening in 1982 was the thing that set sexy times in motion.

Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 11h

Actually, to the Argentine military junta

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Reposted by Aaron H. Ellis

John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 1d

Had great fun doing this - despite that deeply unfortunate screen capture!

Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 1d

New ep! I talk to @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk about how to save the Conservative Party

linktr.ee/strategyaaron

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Reposted by Aaron H. Ellis

Branden McEuen but he’s spooky @bmceuen.bsky.social · 15h

I really feel like millennials especially resent the copyright theft part of these AI data centers because of this.

Strange Days at Blake Hol(e)sey High 👻 🍑 @reactionordinary.bsky.social · 15h

The RIAA was suing teenagers. We had to sit through ⬇️ this shit anytime we wanted to watch a DVD. A whole generation shamed for using Limewire and torrents. Only for these silicone valley assholes to now find copyright infringement a necessary evil they shouldn’t have to answer for

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Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 21h

And that the audience thought he was more cowardly for doing that than debating Michael Howard

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Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 21h

Something that’s really shocked me about Trump II is the lack of solidarity among Americans, as well as the excessive deference

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 21h

"It wanted to signal strength. Instead, it’s revealing its weakness. The administration’s need to break the academy is forcing it to make a desperately risky gamble." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/o...

Opinion | You Beat Trumpism by Banding Together. It’s as Hard and as Simple as That.

www.nytimes.com

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Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 21h

At least once a week I’ll think about the QT where people complain to Blair that they need to see their GP on the day they call them, and then I just stare into the void

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Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 21h

I can remember Tim Montgomerie talking about LOTR as a (positive) allegory for the War on Terror. And now I’m like, my man, your view of Reform and the Far Right is the same as Saruman’s towards Sauron

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Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 21h

Separate but related: Our culture is saturated with allegorical stories about authoritarian forces subtly corrupting our institutions ahead of seizing power, yet so many on the Right are enthusiastically being Denethal, Wormtongue, the Minister of Magic, Saruman, etc

Tamar @heartinamber.bsky.social · 22h

There's a solid conservative reading of Pratchett but, like Wes Anderson, it's the sort of conservatism that lead people to take up arms against Hitler, which is not something Kemi 'nobody on my twitter feed cares about Ukraine so why should I' Badenoch has shown many signs of so far

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Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 21h

On the pod this week, I talk about why I quit the Tories after Brexit.

And although I’ve very much moved on from the party, it is painful to watch such unserious people like Badenoch and Jenrick just destroy what’s left of it.

open.spotify.com/episode/06em...

How to save the Tories

open.spotify.com

Reposted by Aaron H. Ellis

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 22h

One of the Conservative party's contributions to our country has been keeping people who think you can measure integration through skin colour out of office - what next, are they only going to be lukewarm on the property-owning democracy?

Thank the Tories for keeping Robert Jenrick out of high office

Shadow justice secretary’s comment about not seeing a ‘white face’ shows he does not understand integration

www.ft.com

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Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 23h

Watched GoldenEye in the cinema last night.

Despite seeing it many times, I forgot how *hard* some lines are. Alec Trevelyn asking Bond if any martinis have silenced the screams of the men he’s killed, or if a woman’s arms have forgiven him for all those he failed to protect?

I was like, “Damn…”

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Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 1d

Something @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk and I talk about today is the collapse in Tory political economy - with many Tories thinking it was okay for people to not have disposable income but spend all their money on bills, rent/mortgages, and commuting

bsky.app/profile/aaro...

Aaron H. Ellis @aaronhughellis.bsky.social · 1d

New ep! I talk to @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk about how to save the Conservative Party

linktr.ee/strategyaaron

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