David Cameron David Cameron “doing well/badly†(YouGov) All (last week) CON voters LAB voters LD voters Well 49 (+2) 95 13 78 Badly 44 (-1) 4 84 18 Ed Miliband Ed Miliband “doing well/badly†(YouGov) All (last week) CON voters LAB voters LD voters Well 30 (+2) 17 63 26 Badly 44 (+7) 62 20 42 Nick Clegg Nick Clegg “doing well/badly†(YouGov) All (last week) CON voters LAB voters LD voters Well 33 (+1) 67 7 76 Badly 56…
After this morning’s appalling error on the Today programme when cabinet minister Jeremy Hunt’s name was described with a “C” at the start of his surnane rather than an “H” there’s another incident that’s going to cause deep embarrassment. As the Tweet above explains an interview with a Lib Dem PPS who was said to be considering resigning over tuition fees was actually with an impostor. The Corporation, it would appear, was conned. Somebody needs to get a grip. Mike…
I’m tied up for most of the day and won’t be in a position to publish a new piece until late afternoon. Today we could get news of the Old & Sad by election date and, of course, I am sure that everybody has heard this Today programme classic from this morning. Mike Smithson
Is abstention the option for wusses? Just four days to go before the big commons vote on fees and what could potentially be a career-ending decision for each of the 57 MPs who were elected for the Lib Dems last May. What would you do in their position – there are just three options: You vote for the tripling of the maximum fee and risk being accused of breaking your promises and alienating a significant part of your electorate who…
A tale of two elections At first glance, the 2010 and 2001 general elections couldn’t be more different. But look again and you can see a curious coincidence that may have a bearing on the future. In 2001, Labour won a landslide and was secure in power for more than 5 years. Turnout was low, largely because the result was widely expected. The 2010 election was close, turnout rose. We ended up with a balanced hung parliament, which created the…
Mail on Sunday What do we think of the Mail on Sunday story? I’ve just placed a bet with Ladbrokes against Alan Johnson as next Labour leader at the very attractive price of 33/1. What’s prompted it is the above report from the Mail on Sunday that Johnson is being urged to ‘ready himself’ to replace Ed Miliband who has only been in the job since September 25th. This seems to be be just about plausible given Alan Johnson’s very…
At some stage, surely, one of them has to give? The Speccie’s James Forsyth has picked up on another airing in public of a policy disagreement with his boss by the shadow chancellor, Alan Johnson. The issue the latter’s continuing opposition to a graduate tax is reiterated again today in an interview with the Telegraph. Clearly this is the issue of the moment and when Johnson tells the paper that ” .frankly, there’s a difference of view..I feel it’s going…
A guest slot by Gerard Tully – in his final year at Cambridge I should make clear that while I am not involved in the Cambridge occupation, many people I know are. As someone who is strongly skeptical about whether students can really be motivated, this wave of occupation and protest is looking to me more and more like a game-changer. The number of student occupations is growing by the day – now a list including Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, LSE,…