The Times

==Political alignment==
Historically, the paper was not overtly pro-[[Tories (British political party)|Tory]] or [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]], but has been a long time bastion of the [[The Establishment#United Kingdom|British Establishment]] and empire. In 1959, the historian of journalism [[Allan Nevins]] analysed the importance of ''The Times'' in shaping the views of events of London's elite, writing:
<blockquote>For much more than a century ''The Times'' has been an integral and important part of the political structure of Great Britain. Its news and its editorial comment have in general been carefully coordinated, and have at most times been handled with an earnest sense of responsibility. While the paper has admitted some trivia to its columns, its whole emphasis has been on important public affairs treated with an eye to the best interests of Britain. To guide this treatment, the editors have for long periods been in close touch with [[10 Downing Street]].<ref>Allan Nevins, "American Journalism and Its Historical Treatment", ''Journalism Quarterly'' (1959) 36#4 pp 411–22</ref></blockquote>

''The Times'' adopted a stance described as "peculiarly detached" at the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945 general election]]; although it was increasingly critical of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]]'s campaign, it did not advocate a vote for any one party.<ref>[[R. B. McCallum]] and Alison Readman, ''The British General Election of 1945'', Oxford University Press, 1947, p.&nbsp;181–2.</ref> However, the newspaper reverted to the Conservatives for the [[1950 United Kingdom general election|next election]] five years later. It supported the Conservatives for the subsequent three elections, followed by support for both the Conservatives and the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] for the next five elections, expressly supporting a Con–Lib coalition in 1974. The paper then backed the Conservatives solidly until 1997, when it declined to make any party endorsement but supported individual (primarily [[Euroscepticism|Eurosceptic]]) candidates.<ref>[[David Butler (psephologist)|David Butler]] and Dennis Kavanagh, "The British General Election of 1997", Macmillan, London, 1997, p. 156.</ref>

For the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001 general election]], ''The Times'' declared its support for [[Tony Blair]]'s Labour government, which was re-elected by a landslide (although not as large as in 1997). It supported Labour again in [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005]], when Labour achieved a third successive win, though with a reduced majority.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.supanet.com/business--money/which-political-parties-do-the-newspapers-support--25923p1.html|title=Which political parties do the newspapers support?|last=Lancaster|first=Dave|date=1 October 2009|publisher=Supanet|access-date=27 October 2010|archive-date=9 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101009142632/http://www.supanet.com/business--money/which-political-parties-do-the-newspapers-support--25923p1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2004, according to [[Ipsos MORI|MORI]], the voting intentions of its readership were 40% for the Conservative Party, 29% for the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]], and 26% for Labour.<ref name="MORI survey">{{cite web|url=http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/755/Voting-Intention-by-Newspaper-Readership.aspx|title=Voting intention by newspaper readership|date=9 March 2005|publisher=Ipsos MORI|access-date=18 July 2009|archive-date=16 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716090017/http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/755/Voting-Intention-by-Newspaper-Readership.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> For the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]], the newspaper declared its support for the Conservatives once again; the election ended in the Tories taking the most votes and seats but having to form a [[coalition]] with the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] in order to form a government as they had failed to gain an overall majority.<ref name = uk>{{cite news|last=Stoddard|first=Katy|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/may/04/general-election-newspaper-support |title= Newspaper support in UK general elections|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|date=4 May 2010|access-date=27 October 2010 |archive-date=24 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224051644/https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/may/04/general-election-newspaper-support |url-status=live}}</ref>

Its changes in political alignment make it the most varied newspaper in terms of political support in British history.<ref name = uk/> Some columnists in ''The Times'' are connected to the Conservative Party such as [[Daniel Finkelstein]], [[Tim Montgomerie]], [[Matthew Parris]], and [[Matt Ridley]], but there are also columnists connected to the Labour Party such as [[David Aaronovitch]] and [[Jenni Russell]].<ref>{{cite web|title=How left or right-wing are the UK's newspapers? {{!}} YouGov|url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2017/03/07/how-left-or-right-wing-are-uks-newspapers|last=Smith|first=Matthew|date=7 March 2017|website=[[YouGov]]|access-date=14 September 2020|archive-date=11 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711060555/https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2017/03/07/how-left-or-right-wing-are-uks-newspapers|url-status=live}}</ref>

''The Times'' occasionally makes endorsements for foreign elections. In November 2012, it endorsed a second term for [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] [[Barack Obama]], although it also expressed reservations about his foreign policy.<ref>{{cite news |date=1 November 2012 |title=America Decides |newspaper=The Times |location=London |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/america-decides-v3xnllbv03f |url-status=live |access-date=31 December 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210716102824/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/america-decides-v3xnllbv03f |archive-date=16 July 2021}}</ref>

During the [[2019 Conservative Party leadership election|2019 Conservative leadership election]], ''The Times'' endorsed [[Boris Johnson]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-view-on-the-next-prime-minister-boris-johnson-at-no-10-njpzrff8v|title=The Times view on the next prime minister: Boris Johnson at No 10|date=6 July 2019|work=The Times|access-date=29 September 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0140-0460|archive-date=15 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115030736/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-view-on-the-next-prime-minister-boris-johnson-at-no-10-njpzrff8v|url-status=live}}</ref> and subsequently endorsed the Conservative Party in [[2019 United Kingdom general election|the general election of that year]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-s-endorsement-for-the-general-election-back-to-the-future-bmtz9gv97|title=The Times's endorsement for the general election: Back to the Future|date=11 December 2019|work=The Times|access-date=13 April 2020|archive-date=18 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118102219/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-s-endorsement-for-the-general-election-back-to-the-future-bmtz9gv97|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2022 [[Tony Gallagher (editor)|Tony Gallagher]] was appointed to replace [[John Witherow]], who had served nine years as editor. A former [[The Sun (United Kingdom)|Sun]] editor, Gallagher enthusiastically backed Brexit during the 2016 EU referendum. According to [[The Guardian]], "The Times' readership is split politically, with journalists at the outlet speculating on how Gallagher will shape the paper's editorial line as the prospect of a Labour government becomes more likely (in 2024)."<ref name="Waterson 2022">{{cite web |last=Waterson |first=Jim |title=Tony Gallagher confirmed as new editor of the Times |website=The Guardian |date=28 September 2022 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/sep/28/tony-gallagher-confirmed-as-new-editor-of-the-times |access-date=21 August 2023 |archive-date=16 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230916232657/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/sep/28/tony-gallagher-confirmed-as-new-editor-of-the-times |url-status=live }}</ref>