Browsed by
Month: January 2012

Council by-elections: How the parties fared in 2011

Council by-elections: How the parties fared in 2011

Party Votes Vote % Seats Won Net +/- CON 112,208 32.29% 59 -15 LAB 106,786 30.73% 55 +22 LD 58,892 16.95% 22 -3 SNP 19,435 5.59% 9 +2 IND 19,226 5.53% 10 -6 GRN 11,402 3.28% 1 +1 UKIP 7,474 2.15% 0 – We focus a lot on polls on PB but not perhaps as much as we should do on the elections that take place up and down the country week by week filling council vacancies. Last year there…

Read More Read More

It’s Thursday night in the PB NightHawks cafe

It’s Thursday night in the PB NightHawks cafe

We have YouGov early & the council by-elections Tonight’ YouGov poll has the Tories on 41% – their biggest share from the firm since December 2010. LAB are on 40% with the LDs down to 8. I just wonder whether Cameron and his party are getting a little bounce for the referendum moves. Meanwhile we are back to the regular Thursday night council by-elections – check out the rolling thread on Britain-votes.co.uk from about 10.30pm. Mike Smithson @MikeSmithsonOGH

Are the Bain attacks taking away Mitt’s New Hampshire fizz?

Are the Bain attacks taking away Mitt’s New Hampshire fizz?

Can Romney cope with the onslaught in S. Carolina? After his big victory in New Hampshire on Tuesday night the general view was that Mitt Romney was on his way to winning the Republican nomination. That result made it two out of two and he only had to take the next state in line, South Carolina, and he would appear invincible. In a piece on Saturday David Herdson rightly concluded that this third primary test was probably the most important….

Read More Read More

General Election: What the new boundaries do to the targets

General Election: What the new boundaries do to the targets

Election outcome < New boundaries Old boundaries LAB MAJORITY LAB LEAD 4.3% LAB LEAD 3% LAB MOST SEATS CON LEAD below 2.2% CON LEAD below 4% CON MOST SEATS CON LEAD above 2.2% CON LEAD 4% CON MAJORITY CON LEAD above 7.4% CON LEAD 11% LAB can still come top with fewer votes Thanks to YouGov’s Anthony Wells at UKPR for producing a revised set of notional outcomes following the publication of the proposed new boundaries for Wales. The table...

Read More Read More

PB NightHawks as CON take 2 point YouGov lead

PB NightHawks as CON take 2 point YouGov lead

And Ed’s best PM numbers drop to new low Tonight’s YouGov has LAB at 38% two points below CON on 40% with the LDs at 10% Perhaps even more worrying for the red team is that just 17% of the sample rated Ed as the “best PM” – his worst rating since becoming leader in September 2010. In many ways the poll is in line with all the negative press that he has been getting. So far the only polling…

Read More Read More

Did Scotland help Ed at PMQs?

Did Scotland help Ed at PMQs?

After a period which has brought one negative story after another for Ed Miliband the Labour leader cannot have been looking forward to PMQs. He got off to a difficult start attacking the government on the rail fare increases which Cameron said was the result of the Labour government’s policies. I don’t know who was right on that one but EdM didn’t come out of the exchange very well. Spats over fact are tricky for the opposition leader and and…

Read More Read More

Is it now all over for the nomination?

Is it now all over for the nomination?

ABC news Even though it less than half an hour since the polls closed the outcome in New Hampshire is clear – Romney winning by the margins predicted in the final polls with Paul in second place and Huntsman down in third. Unless there’s a big change as more results come in this must surely mark the end for John Huntsman who appeared to surge in recent days. Romney will go into to the third state, South Carolina, next week…

Read More Read More

The PB NightHawks New Hampshire thread

The PB NightHawks New Hampshire thread

This is the ballot form that NH voters have faced It’s slightly shocking to see how many candidates are on the ballot. It’s also interesting looking at the order of names. It seems that this is alphabetical starting at a random point. All very fair because with long ballot forms like this the experience is that those nearer the top might have an advantage. Of the main candidates Newt Gingrich is closest to the top while Rick Santorum is at…

Read More Read More