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Year: 2008

How vulnerable are these to the “Cameron effect”

How vulnerable are these to the “Cameron effect”

Will tax and public spending cuts help stem the Tory surge? Today’s crisis at Lehman Brothers and all the attention that Labour’s leadership crisis is getting are somewhat over-shadowing the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth. The party which finds it difficult getting publicity at any time always looks for a boost from its conference and this is just more bad luck for Nick Clegg. For many in the party the key issue is how do they deal with the threat…

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Could it be John Reid who is behind the plot?

Could it be John Reid who is behind the plot?

Could he still be a contender if the conditions were right? An interesting piece on the Telegraph blog this afternoon went into the suggestion that the man behind the current moves within the Labour party is John Reid. I’ve had his name in the back of my mind since this comment by the Telegraph’s astute Scottish political expert, Alan Cochrane, on the paper’s blog three months ago. Cochrane observed: “…But with Charles Clarke, David Blunkett or John Reid all absenting…

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Our advice to Gord: Call a leadership election yourself

Our advice to Gord: Call a leadership election yourself

Wouldn’t this clear the air and he could possibly win? One thing’s for certain – the disquiet within the Labour party about the leadership that has suddenly gone public is going to continue even if Team Brown manage to see off the current threat. And all this does is make Brown look weaker and weaker resulting in it being even harder for him to govern properly adding further to Labour’s polling woes. But it does not need to be like…

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…meanwhile the Tories reach a new spread betting high

…meanwhile the Tories reach a new spread betting high

Overnight buying points to a majority of more than 62 seats While Labour’s travails over the leadership continue there’s been a further sharp move on the commons seats spread betting markets where political gamblers “trade” the number of MPs the parties will get at the next general election as though they were stocks and shares. Serious money is being wagered with punters being ready to risk a lot of money. The numbers in the panel above are with SportingIndex and…

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Should your money be following the Populus focus group?

Should your money be following the Populus focus group?

If there’s going to be a contest could one of these win? With all the focus over the past 24 hours being the growing number of Labour figures calling for a leadership contest the finding of today’s Populus leadership focus group have not merited the attention they perhaps deserve. For the pollster put together a group of 20 Labour voters from 2005 and showed them clips of Brown and six possible replacements. As they watched they registered their reaction by…

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Was this the right choice to face Salmond?

Was this the right choice to face Salmond?

How will Iain Gray perform as Leader of Labour at Holyrood? The Scottish Labour Party has chosen Iain Gray MSP (East Lothian) to be its new leader, with Johann Lamont as his Deputy. Cathy Jamieson, whom HenryG thought might prove successful, came in second, with Andy Kerr coming third. Gray takes over after the resignation of Wendy Alexander, and will face Alex Salmond across the Holyrood chamber. The question to which we must immediately turn our thoughts is whether Gray…

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Does Joe Biden have a point?

Does Joe Biden have a point?

Would Hillary have been a better choice for VP? It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the Obama-Biden ticket. The stadium finale of the Denver Convention was overshadowed by the historic choice of Governor Sarah Palin by John McCain, the GOP has rediscovered some optimism, and the Republican ticket has taken a lead in the national polls. Much of this is attributed to Palin, who has both energised the Conservative base, and injected some glamour and hope into what…

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How seriously should we take this?

How seriously should we take this?

Is it the start of something or will it fizzle out? The news this afternoon of the move by the Government whip, Siobhain McDonagh, on the Labour leadership has taken many people aback and it’s hard to assess how serious it it. On the face of it she seems prepared to sacrifice her job in order to bring the leadership issue out into the open. Whether it will or not we will have to see. Clearly for such an initiative…

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