CON 40 (+2) LAB 24 (-1) LD 17 (-1) But the changes are all within the margin of error There was a new poll out overnight after all and we are just picking up the details. It was in the People which carried a similar YouGov poll only a few weeks ago. No fieldwork dates are mentioned but I assume that this took place after the Telegraph’s YouGov survey which we featured here on Thursday evening. Let’s hope that the…
Can he cope with Harriet, Mandy and Ed at the same time? Just as every Prime Minister needs a Willie, as Margaret Thatcher famously noted, so the present incumbent believes he needs Balls. She was right; he may not be. While Balls isn’t Brown’s deputy, he is almost certainly his closest political confidante within the cabinet, his position unassailable and his views taken very seriously by Brown. Alongside him, Peter Mandelson having returned to government and risen to the lofty…
John Redwood’s blog Why do they have seventeen weeks annual holiday? Somewhat to my surprise I find myself in total agreement with today’s blog entry by former Tory minister, John Redwood. In it he sets out just how little time MPs actually have to spend at Westminster because of the elongated holidays and the truncated working week. He writes: “My main job is to hold the government to account. It is to cross examine them over their policies, to request…
Indy online Is this going to be the core Tory theme? Usually one of the most consistent Saturday morning political “reads” is Andrew Grice’s column in the Independent and today he speculates on what he think what the Tories are planning to make the election all about. He suggests that Tory riposte to Brown’s “investment versus cuts” will be “to invite voters to choose between “Honest Dave and Dodgy Gordon”. Grice goes on: “When Andrew Lansley, the shadow Health Secretary,…
YouGov What does he do now in the face of these numbers? Thanks to Andrew Sparrow in the Guardian for spotting the above numbers in the latest YouGov poll for they seem to blow a big hole in Brown’s core general election strategy – to reduce the argument down to a choice between “Labour investment” and “Tory cuts”. The key premise of the Brown approach is that voters will believe that by curtailing budgets to key services then inevitably those…
CON 34 (+1) LAB 30 (-15) LD 15 (-1) GRN 14 (+11) Is the first poll just in line with expectations? The above ICM poll with variations on what happened at the last election was commissioned by Norwich’s University & College Union and has just been published. The sample was just 500 which means a much higher margin of error must be applied. As can be seen the figures are broadly in line with current national polling and, indeed, it…
What if an “independent” Tory fought Bercow? One feature of the week that I’ve found shocking and unexpected has been the venom from many parts of the Tory party over the man who was elected speaker of the commons on Monday, John Bercow. I was no fan of the Buckingham MP but I made damn sure in my betting that I was covered on a Bercow victory even getting 4/1 on him while the first round votes were being counted….
CON 38 (-2) LAB 25(+1) LD 18 (nc) But “others” continue to impact on the numbers The Telegraph’s YouGov poll for June is out and shows modest changes on the last survey from the firm a fortnight ago. Labour will be pleased to have clawed back the deficit to what appears a modest 13 points. The Tories will be disappointed to be down in the 30s again while it’s no change for the Lib Dems. The changes are modest and…