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Month: June 2009

Punters push Tory spreads to record levels

Punters push Tory spreads to record levels

SportingIndex CON 360-365 LAB 203-208 LD 53-56 But the TV “experts” project a Tory majority of just 4 A big gap has opened up this afternoon between the punters – those who back up their general election predictions with hard cash – and the TV academics who have been analysing the local election results. So while SkyNews has been projecting, based on the handful of results in so far, a Conservative general election total 327 seats the Sporting Index spreads…

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Is Ed Balls the day’s big loser?

Is Ed Balls the day’s big loser?

Even his wife is getting a promotion This was the day, surely, when Ed Balls was supposed to have reinforced his case to be Brown’s successor through being appointed to one of the three main offices of state. A month ago the Home Office was being talked about and he became strong favourite on the betting markets. Then last weekend the big news was that he was going to take over at the Treasury from Alistair Darling. Well neither of…

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Is Gord going to scrape through?

Is Gord going to scrape through?

But what will the Euros bring? The original plan had been to have the re-shuffle on Monday after the EU elections had been made known. Well that’s had to be brought forward and while the local results come in we are getting the re-shuffle. In many ways you have to admire Brown’s resilience and resolve but there’s no doubt that he’s been badly damaged by the events of the past few days and the pressure will be piled on as…

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Is this going to be the next Labour explosion?

Is this going to be the next Labour explosion?

What if Brown appoints Balls as Chancellor? What a night and so much more to come in the next few days. Apart from the local election results which are coming in overnight the big political story during the day will be the cabinet re-shuffle. Who is going to replace Jacqui Smith, Hazel Blears and now James Purnell? But most interesting move of them all is whether Ed Balls gets the job he has set his heart on – Chancellor of…

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Gordon Brown’s Premiership in its Death Throes

Gordon Brown’s Premiership in its Death Throes

James Purnell has this evening resigned From the BBC: James Purnell has stepped down from the cabinet and told Prime Minister Gordon Brown to “stand aside” In a letter to the Sun and the Times, the work and pensions secretary said he was not seeking the leadership but wanted to trigger a debate. Mr Purnell is the third cabinet member to announce they are standing down in the past few days. Mr Brown is set to reshuffle his cabinet as…

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How will the results be viewed in the “Tory War Room”?

How will the results be viewed in the “Tory War Room”?

Could the outcomes not quite reach expectations? With the polls due to close at 10pm all the focus has been on Labour with talk at one stage of a high-profile name making a big announcement at 10pm. Who knows? But what about the Tories? Could they find both the locals and the Euros something of a disappointment. The problems here, of course, are that the minor parties who hardly ever get a look in are seeing a big increase in…

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Will Gord’s leadership last longer than IDS’s?

Will Gord’s leadership last longer than IDS’s?

Can he beat the Tory’s two years and 55 days? With all the talk of the pressure on Gordon Brown just how long can he carry on? Is for instance his tenure as leader of the Labour party going to be shorter than Iain Duncan Smith – the Tory leader from 2001 to 2003. Unlike Brown IDS had to fight an election to get the party’s top job yet within a short time it was clear that the party had…

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But where are the voters..?

But where are the voters..?

Is turnout going to be on the low side? It’s always quite difficult trying to make a guess at turnout at this stage on polling days. The big rush is generally between 5pm and 7.30pm. Even so the message that’s coming through is that the levels of voter participation are not going to be anywhere near the proportions that some were suggesting over the weekend. Above is the scene outside my own polling station – the refreshment hut at Bedford…

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