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Month: June 2010

Will Labour really go for MiliD – the biggest vote loser?

Will Labour really go for MiliD – the biggest vote loser?

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Candidate Seat LAB ’05 LAB ’10 Diane Abbott Hackney N & Stoke Newington 49.0% 55.0% Ed Miliband Doncaster North 51.1% 47.3% Andy Burnham Leigh 57.8% 51.3% Ed Balls Morley & Outwood 46.0% 37.6% David Miliband South Shields 60.8% 52.0% Or will it go for the one big winner? Above are the differing performances in their own constituencies of the five Labour hopefuls are the general election on May 6th. This was a day, of course, when the overall GB share…

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Does the 2015 election campaign start tomorrow?

Does the 2015 election campaign start tomorrow?

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Will the budget be less painful than its advanced billing? Just a day to go before the first budget of the new government and many of the papers are speculating over some of the horrendous things that they think that George Osborne will be announcing. But is the awfulness of what the coalition’s planning being talked up so that the reaction tomorrow afternoon is that it’s not as bad as was feared? It wouldn’t be the first time that expectations…

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Is Prezza right to call Hutton a “collaborator”?

Is Prezza right to call Hutton a “collaborator”?

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BBC News Would the best approach been to have kept quiet? There’s been a furious reaction from the former Labour deputy PM, Lord Prescott, to this morning news that his former cabinet colleague, John Hutton, is to head up the government’s commission into public sector pensions. Linking the action to moves by Kate Hoey and Frank Field he writes: “Now we have the unedifying spectacle of John Hutton, Labour’s former Work and Pensions minister, chairing a new Independent Pensions Commission…

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Is the contest moving Labour to the left?

Is the contest moving Labour to the left?

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Could there be dangers in ceding the centre ground? The Evening Standard political writer, Paul Waugh, has made an astute observation about the Labour leadership race – it is taking the party leftwards. He noted: “…..David Miliband came up with a string of policies that will gladden the hearts of party activists and trade unions. Axeing £100million tax breaks for private schools was an easy hit and one that – surely completely unintentionally – drew attention to Diane Abbott’s praise…

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Labour drop three in new ComRes poll

Labour drop three in new ComRes poll

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Fieldwork Pollster/publication CON LAB LD OTH 16-17 June ComRes / Independent on Sunday 36 30 23 11 10-11 June YouGov / Sunday Times 40 32 18 10 1-9 June Harris/Metro 36 30 25 9 28-31 May ComRes / The Independent 37 33 21 9 21-23 May ICM / The Guardian 39 32 21 8 20-21 May YouGov / Sunday Times 39 32 21 7 13-14 May YouGov / Sunday Times 37 34 21 8 12-13 May ICM / Sunday Telegraph 38…

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Another Saturday in the life of the coalition

Another Saturday in the life of the coalition

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NOTW The News of the World story is here. It seems that the original “scoop”, if that is what we still call these things, was by the People who possibly could feel a bit miffed that their arch-rival, the NOTW has now got its new angle on the story. Maybe their mistake was to start Tweeting about it too early? Will it have a political impact? Probably not – Chris Huhne is not Lembit Opik although his “news” could keep…

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Has BP damaged Palin‘s 2012 bid?

Has BP damaged Palin‘s 2012 bid?

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What now for the ‘Drill Baby, Drill’ advocates? So far, the majority of the focus of the BP oil spill story has focussed on the executives of the company and on how the US government’s response is likely to affect President Obama. That’s understandable but beyond the immediate concerns about fixing the leak, there are bigger questions about America’s energy policy to answer, ones that could have a direct bearing on the next presidential campaign. Now’s a good time to…

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