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Are the rules stacked against any indie challenge? A feature of the Norwich North by election which might have repercussions has been the way that the BBC and other broadcasters are able to deem who is a serious candidate or not. And inevitably only those who are representing the main parties are designated the former category and get featured in the coverage. For the others we are usually told to refer to the programme’s website where there is a full…

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But why not more elections? I’ve just read the full transcript (courtesy of PoliticsHome) of David Cameron’s speech on quangos. He specifically says that what he is proposing is not ‘a bonfire of the quango’ but a deliberate move to limit their scope, number and budgets. Interestingly, he was prepared to single out some large and powerful organisations that will be culled or disempowered should he win power – including OFCOM, NICE, and the QCDA. The argument is simple and…

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ICM Guardian polling series Why the only comparisons you can make are with ICM We’ve discussed this before and will, no doubt, discuss it again because there’s a widespread belief out there that the evidence suggests that Labour will recover as we get closer to polling day. Even last week in the FT the eminent telly historian Professor Niall Ferguson and fellow academic Glen O’Hara were comparing the Tory’s current polling shares with the 60+% shares for Labour that were…

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How could the public debate be made more accessable? The Sunday Times yesterday led with a story that Whitehall Mandarins are drafting plans for public sector spending cuts of up to 20%. This has not apparently been ordered by the government, and doesn’t form part of the Opposition liaison that takes place in the run-up to a General Election: this appears to be unbidden, out of a fear that such cuts will be required, even if they cannot be discussed…

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Could we see support for “others” start to recede? Siesta time on my Spanish holiday and a quick look at PB reveals that there’s a longing for a new poll so people can get a sense of whether things are changing. By my reckoning the next main public poll from one of the mainstream pollsters should come from Populus in the Times tomorrow evening. In June the firm came out with what proved to be the smallest Tory share –…

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A betting adjudication I might be on holiday but PB seems to follow me everywhere – even to this stunning sherry port of Sanlucar where Jacky and I have just arrived on the next stage of our holiday which marks our 40th wedding anniversary tomorrow. Thanks to those who helped bank-roll the trip – notably all those who didn’t vote in the Euro elections which meant that the big positions I took on turnout being below 35% proved to be…

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