Will the old bruiser win his job back We’ve not looked at it for some time but one of the key battles next year will be for the Mayor of London. Every single elector throughout the capital can vote in what is a massive election. Boris Johnson won the crown in 2008 at a time when the popularity of the Tories was at a height and Labour was down in the doldrums. Nearly 2,5m people voted, a turnout of 45%,…
Why the strange reticence? The publication of the economic figures yesterday gave us our first chance to see how the protagonists for the government and opposition would perform – and as I observed in an article yesterday I thought that Osborne was poor. But what about Ed Balls – Labour’s new economic spokesman of whom great things are expected by the red team. How did he do? Would his sharp brain and normal combative approach see him through? The answer…
Poll/publication End date CON (%) LAB (%) LD (%) ICM Guardian 23/01/11 35 39 15 ICM Guardian 19/12/10 37 39 13 ICM Guardian 21/11/10 36 38 14 ICM/Guardian 24/10/10 39 36 16 ICM/NOTW 22/10/10 40 36 16 ICM/Sunday Telegraph 07/10/10 38 34 18 ICM/Guardian 29/09/10 35 37 18 ICM/Guardian 15/08/10 37 37 18 ICM/Guardian 25/07/10 38 34 19 ICM/Sunday Telegraph 24/06/10 41 35 16 ICM/Guardian 20/06/10 39 31 21 ICM/Guardian 23/05/10 39 32 21 ICM/Sunday Telegraph 13/05/10 38 33 21…
BBC News Does he need a more sophisticated response? We all remember how Gordon Brown and others responded in the final days of the last government whenever issues over the economy were raised. “It all started in America” we were told time and time again to the extent that it became a bit of a joke. I just wonder whether George Osborne is making a similar error with his response to the latest growth numbers showing a decline in Q4…
Poll/publication Date CON % LAB % LD % ICM/Guardian 23/01/11 Populus/Times 24/10/10 Ipsos-MORI/Reuters 12/12/10 ComRes/Independent 14/01/11 36 40 10 YouGov/Sun 24/01/11 37 42 11 Angus Reid 06/01/11 35 40 12 ***PAPA*** LATEST 36.0 40.7 11.0 ICM and MORI expected today One of the things that’s to be most regretted about current UK political polling has been the dramatic decline in the number of telephone surveys coming out. The political world is so dominated by…
Should the media acquiesce to Baldwin’s call? James Forsyth at the Speccie Coffee House blog takes up the ongoing argument over whether the term “Conservative-led” rather than “coalition” should be used to describe the government. Labour is keen for its purposes for the former to be used and broadcasters and other media outlets have been written to by EdM press chief, Tom Baldwin, suggesting that they do the same. Channel 4 has become the first to agree. But doesn’t this…
Is it time to revisit Tom Watson’s source? Although Westminster was surprised that Andy Coulson resigned when he did, it had to a large extent been foretold. Tom Watson was only a few days out in his remarkable prediction earlier this month when Coulson would go. After last week’s dramatic events Watson’s article more than merits a re-read. Watson’s source also believes Conservative preparations are already underway for a May general election. The Midlands MP acknowledges that Labour would be…
Who’ll prevail – the strategist or the tactician? It’s been a long time in the making but the George and Ed Show is finally under way. It should have started, of course, in Gordon Brown’s post-EU election re-shuffle in June 2009. Balls was offered the job and was so certain he was moving he had a leaving party at his old department. The incumbent at the Treasury, Alistair Darling, however, refused to budge and a weakened Brown could not force…