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Mark Shanahan

@markshanahan.bsky.social

520 followers 1.4K following 950 posts

Political historian into US & UK politics. Associate Professor at the University of Surrey, sometimes on the radio/TV. Follower of the mighty Wycombe Wanderers & the underperforming Middlesex CCC. Into books, theatre & jangly guitars.

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Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 2h

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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Sailor's kiss?

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 11h

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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 And it did.

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 18h

Which one's Jenrick?

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 1d

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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 There's the rub.

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 2d

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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Made me smile?

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 2d

Ah, but that would mean sticking their head above the parapet and breaking with the groupthink.

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 4d

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Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 4d

Every now and then, the Tories need a Hague (wrong time), a Duncan Smith (wrong man), or a Howard (wrong man, wrong time) to reset, lose the losing mentality and prepare for a real fight - as delivered by Cameron. Badenoch seems to have immediately lurched into all the worst elements of Tories 97-05

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 4d

Wordle 1,568 4/6

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Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 5d

Instincts of a blind mole rat.

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 5d

Wordle 1,567 5/6

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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 What a jerk.

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 6d

Yet we've made tax a dirty word in this country. I'm old enough to remember the 70s (though not as a tax payer) when our expectation was of a far higher level of direct tax. Thatcher's switch to tax on consumption changed the landscape, yet the top rate of income tax was 60% in her 1st budget!

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 6d

Hardly helps that @conservatives.bsky.social have accepted £ millions from organised climate sceptics - they're now calling in their debt and Badenoch lacks the strength or principle to deny them. Look at the likes of Hintze, Vinson and Moynihan to understand why Kemi has suddenly found her voice.

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 6d

Wordle 1,566 4/6

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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Never mind the quality.

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 7d

While right-wing media getting its knickers in a twist does raise a smirk, there's something not quite right about the way Starmer is going after Farage. It would be far better to demolish his policy house of cards forensically than to give the grifter scope to play the victim - however unjustified

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 8d

Wordle 1,565 3/6

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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 By forgetting to do the previous day's Wordle.

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 9d

Now second fiddle to Trump (hardly the master of detail) - so Tony's no longer Top of the #BoP.

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 9d

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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Unlike a #RyderCup crowd.

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 10d

Hey Donald Trump. So. Much. Winning. #RyderCup www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/v...

Ryder Cup 2025: Shane Lowry puts on 18th to retain for Europe

Shane Lowry retains the Ryder Cup for Europe after holing his birdie putt on the 18th to earn a half-point in his singles match with Russell Henley.

www.bbc.co.uk

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 10d

Finished a very pleasing book, took a walk along the Thames and round our local lakes and played 100 mins of not wholly awful tennis. A good day; head-cleared and ready for the week.

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 10d

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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Not actually very hard.

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 10d

I didn't expect this to be such a sharp exposition of the current government from #MickHeron. I'm surprised I haven't come away with paper cuts. #Books #BookSky #SlowHorses.

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 11d

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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 A name surely?

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 13d

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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 00.12 - relatively quick.

Mark Shanahan @markshanahan.bsky.social · 13d

I started my first proper job after graduation 40 years ago today - working in academia came much later. I now work at a university that's younger than me - and it's not even a post-92. #AcademicSky