Jacqui’s exit: Another PB betting winner!
A Marf original – Dec 2nd 2008
How many more will go in the coming days?
One of the difficult things about political betting is that often your markets are long term. Unlike most sports betting you can often tie up cash for months maybe years – so news that one of those long-term bets is coming to fruition is very welcome. It was at the start of December 2008 that it was suggested here that the William Hill price 6/4 that she’d be out by the general election seemed a great bet.
With Alistair Darling being spoken of by Brown in the past tense it’s starting to look as though there could be a very different appearance to the cabinet after the weekend.
The worry for Number 10, surely, is that the image of positive change that they will try to project being seen as one of chaos. And that could further impede Brown’s fight-back?
Even worse is the way that news of Smith’s exit has dribbled out today. One of the points about the re-shuffle was for it to be presented as agenda-changing and that required the right timing – on Friday to overshadow the local results. Now, as Labour faces Thursday’s desperate day of elections the overall picture, as they say, is “less than optimal”.
To survive Brown need to ensure that there are no pegs on which his many detractors in the PLP can base a call for him to go.
What a week – and more betting outcomes in prospect. Could my 10/1 “Alan Johnson as Labour leader” bet be one of this month’s winners?