Oldham E & Saddleworth by-election betting	LABOUR	LIB DEMS	TORIES
Ladbrokes	1/4	4/1	14/1
William Hill	1/6	9/2	11/1
Victor Chandler	1/6	9/2	10/1
PaddyPower	2/11	10/3	12/1
Bet365	1/4	7/2	16/1
SkyBet	2/11	7/2	25/1
Betfair	0.18/1	5.4/1	31/1
Smarkets	1/4	75/20	22/1

Labour remain strong odds-on favourites

With the postal vote packs in the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election due to be mailed out in the next couple of days the latest by-election betting shows a weakening of the Tory price across the board. SkyBet has the best traditional bookie price of 25/1 while you get get 30/1 or better on the Betfair exchange.

The bookies tell me that there’s hardly any interest in the blues at all – all the focus has been on Labour and the Lib Dems whose candidate, Elwyn Watkins, was the one who created the contest following his successful legal action over Labour’s general election campaign.

On the face of it this should be an easy Labour victory and perhaps the party’s biggest challenge is ensuring their supporters are not so over-confident that they don’t see the point of getting out to vote.

What we haven’t got is any polling data or other hard information to guide us. The timing of the campaign over the Christmas and New Year holiday periods has made it difficult for pollsters though we might get something once the new year holiday is over.

The main impact of a poll could be if it showed the Tories doing better than the current betting suggests.

Bookmakers links:
Ladbrokes
William Hill
Bet365
PaddyPower
Victor Chandler
Smarkets
Betfair

Mike Smithson