Has Cameron done the right thing? If BBC News has got this right and the story above is correct then Ken Clarke is about to return to the Shadow Cabinet and the first PB betting call of 2009 has come good. I’ve got a fair bit on at 6/4 and I hope others have too. The big question is how this is going to play politically and whether Cameron’s gamble is going to pay off. Clearly the leader needed a…
Where did he get his amazing prices? The above story features in today’s Mail on Sunday and suggests that green campaigner and Tory candidate, Zac Goldsmith, won about £150,000 on Barack Obama for the White House. That’s great and many PBers also made big profits on the race. But where did he get the quoted prices and which bookies were ready to let him bet at levels which for us mere mortals are not possible. I had long bets on…
How supporters divide on the Middle East Reproduced above is a snippet from today’s YouGov poll in the Sunday Times which I have clipped because it shows the different approaches that supporters of the three main parties are taking towards the current conflict in the Middle East. For when asked who should get the blame the overall result has 24% of British voters blaming Hamas with 18% saying Israel. The balance of the sample said “equally” or they “don’t know”….
CONSERVATIVES 41% (+2) LABOUR 32% (-2) LIB DEMS 15% (-1) Is this a third body blow to Brown Central? The second poll of the night, the ComRes poll for tomorrow’s Indy on Sunday, has the Tories back into the low 40s and Labour down a couple of points on where they were in the last survey from the pollster before Christmas. This follows the YouGov poll reported just over an a hour ago on the previous thread that had the…
CONSERVATIVES 45% (+4) LABOUR 32% (-2) LIB DEMS 14% (-1) Is Cameron moving back to landslide territory After the Populus poll earlier in the week that had the Tories back with a double digit lead over Labour the latest YouGov survey, for the Sunday Times, is reporting a four point shift to the party in a week and a half and a decline in the Labour share. This will be hugely disappointing for Labour who had thoughts that their “Do…
What do we make of Polly Toynbee’s explanation? An interesting take on the reasons for the Heathrow 3rd runway decision is in Polly Toynbee’s new Saturday morning slot in the Guardian which has become my Saturday “first read” – with more political analysis and less polemic than her other platforms. (And before you pooh-pooh her the person who game me the tip in June 2007 that Harriet, then 9/1, was going to win the 2007 Deputy race tells me that…
Who might have suggested this defence? There is nothing I like less than being rudely awakened. “Rumpole? I say, Rumpole? I’m coming in, so put on your trousers, there’s a good chap” It was ten after three, and my mind in twixtplace-slumber was turning to thoughts of a decent bottle of Chateau Thames Embankment and a bitter cheroot, when my door was rudely knocked and opened by my one-time pupil, part-time dilletante, and occasional imbibing-partner, Alistair. “What the devil is…
Is this the way to work out how the firm does its weightings? As regular visitors will know Anthony Wells of UKPollingReport and I have been in discussion for some time with the ComRes polling organisation trying to work out how it does its past vote weighting – a measure that all but one of the pollsters adopt in one form or another to ensure that their samples are politically representative. The process is quite simple. Respondees are asked how…