Jon Tonge
Belfast Telegraph
United Kingdom
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Past articles by Jon:
Jon Tonge: We need a fundamental review of power-sharing institutions
If anyone finds the Secretary of State’s credibility, could they please hand it in to their nearest lost property office? It’s been missing since October 28. → Read More
Jon Tonge: My confidence vote Twitter prediction wasn’t just Mystic Meg-ery, it was luck and guesswork
Nothing like the offspring to end the brief basking in the Guardian’s ‘Mystic Meg’ label. “If you can see things, how come you can’t tell you are a complete loser?” was the youngest’s verdict. → Read More
Jon Tonge: Stormont impasse might get so bad MLAs may lose pay – but don’t bet on it
Slow return to Stormont? This week’s efforts to coax the DUP back into the political institutions were unlikely to pay immediate dividends. All bets for a full Executive are off for a while. → Read More
Jon Tonge: Mary Lou McDonald as Taoiseach and Michelle O’Neill as First Minister looks very probable
So how will we fill this weekend then? Now that candidates, counting staff and commentators have reintroduced themselves to their families, here are 10 random reflections on where we go after an election both dramatic and seismic. Who knows, one day it might even produce an Executive. → Read More
Jon Tonge: Shrewd, gaffe-free Sinn Fein campaign ensures the DUP has lost its crown
Not a total disaster for Jeffrey Donaldson, but it’s his republican rivals and Alliance who are celebrating, while the SDLP and UUP are left licking their wounds → Read More
Jon Tonge: Election forecast: Sinn Fein set for first place as DUP left with runners-up medal
Final column before the big day. Christmas Eve for political scientists. Wise professors avoid making a detailed election forecast, which is why you will find one at the foot of this column. → Read More
Jon Tonge: Outside of big two, Alliance and TUV look set to make gains if polling proves accurate
Beyond the DUP versus Sinn Fein headlines, who is doing best of the rest in the LucidTalk-Belfast Telegraph poll? → Read More
Jon Tonge: SF’s tightly disciplined campaign could lead to historic Stormont election
A fortnight today, Sinn Fein might be the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Smashing Stormont has a very different meaning for republicans these days. We could be on the brink of the most iconic election on the island since 1918. But could it still go wrong for Sinn Fein? If so, where? → Read More
Jon Tonge: NI Assembly election 2022 is a battle of the least seat losses
Only the brave should forecast what will happen at the Assembly election. Only the most foolish might try and predict exactly where the drama will occur. But soothsaying is too difficult to resist. And if you call the outcome in all 18 constituencies there is an outside chance you might manage at least one or two correct predictions. → Read More
Jon Tonge: The Grand National’s always had its critics
To Aintree on Saturday for the 174th Grand National. Feels like I’ve watched most of them. An early childhood memory is the extended family gathered round a TV to view the race and it has held enduring interest. → Read More
Jon Tonge: Universities fail to make the grade on tackling outdated traditions
For institutions supposedly containing clever and innovative people, universities are sometimes strangely conservative places. We sometimes stick to outdated practices even when they are clearly in need of overhaul. To benefit not just the current cohort of 66,000 students at Northern Ireland’s universities (2.75 million across the UK) here are a few suggestions for change. → Read More
Jon Tonge: Alliance on course to be third biggest party in the Executive... that’s if there’s one still there
So beyond the big two parties, who wins on the election undercard? → Read More
Jon Tonge: Will Allister continue to go solo in final chance to realign unionism?
Traditional Unionist Voices will be raised today in Cookstown as Jim Allister’s party gathers for its annual conference. → Read More
Jon Tonge: Will Alliance’s moderate politics become a big deal in May?
As the Party Alliance gathers in Belfast today for its annual conference, how excited should attendees be for the looming date with the voters? → Read More
Jon Tonge: SDLP and Sinn Fein could swap unity manifestos and no one would notice
The SDLP gathers in Bellaghy for its annual conference tomorrow, just 74 days before a tough Assembly election. Amid the fevered focus on whether Sinn Fein becomes the largest party and provides the First Minister — assuming an Executive can somehow be formed — what can Colum Eastwood do to improve his party’s fortunes? → Read More
Simon Byrne: ‘It would have been easy to quit... but the in-tray would have stayed the same’
The PSNI launched its new-look uniform last week. White shirt and tie replaced by more casual, sports-style jerseys. You half-expected someone to complain about officers sporting green tops. → Read More
Jon Tonge: Gambling with future of Northern Ireland politics will never pay off
To think that gambling used to be frowned upon by the DUP. The party has now bet big on Collapse in the Protocol Stakes. Given that gamblers win only one in seven times this is a big call. → Read More
Jon Tonge: Crass tweets only scratch surface of the UUP’s women problem
Doug Beattie has a problem with women — the lack of them within his party and among his voters, that is. → Read More
Jon Tonge: Will consistency help SDLP and Alliance prevent Sinn Fein getting top job?
Is there a political party anywhere polling as consistently as the SDLP? The party’s percentage scores since the last Assembly performance, 12% of the vote, have been 13, 13, 12, 13, 12 and now 11 in Saturday’s Lucid Talk survey. → Read More
Jon Tonge: NI will never be truly secure but a united Ireland isn’t inevitable
This Tuesday, I referee an online debate entitled “Do pro-United Irelanders live in never-never land? Or is Irish Unification inevitable?” organised by Irishborderpoll.com. → Read More