Or was the soaring price not a vote swinger after all?

Until a few weeks ago when the cost of of a litre of diesel had reached the record high of £1.34 ministers and and a number of commentators were suggesting that this one of the big drivers behind Labour’s polling collapse.

The view was that if the soaring world oil prices could come to an end and the price at the pumps started to decline then there would be some benefit to the government.

Well there has been some relief – before I left for France on my holiday on Thursday I filled up a £1.25 a litre and it felt a little bit better.

But the improving position on fuel prices and and possible feel good factor from the Olympics do not seem to have had an impact on Labour’s polling figures – things remain in an appalling position.

Across the range of all the pollsters that do monthly surveys the Tories remain in the mid/high 40s while Brown’s Labour languishes in the 20s. In fact since last April, when the step change in public opinion seems to have happened, there has been just one poll published which had the party at 30% or more – and that was from ComRes in June, the firm that has produced the latest survey.

The latest shares with comparisons on the last poll from the firm are CON 46%(nc): LAB 25%(+1): LD 16%(-2)

It’s becoming hard to see what could prompt a reversal. I think that what we are seeing is a strong desire for change and that is what is being picked up in poll after poll month after month. Figures like the latest from ComRes have become the new norm.

The future development of the site There were some interesting points on the way the site operates yesterday following a post by Eddie. Some changes are coming and with Morus’s trip to the Democratic Convention we will be trying something different in how we place articles.

I am very keen that the “front page” remains – something interesting and provocative that is tightly written and generates discussion that is possibly linked to a betting market.

Also coming up will be a completely new concept for our masthead which will change the look of PB.

Mike Smithson