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Month: April 2012

Ken eases to a 29 pc chance after the Newsnight debate

Ken eases to a 29 pc chance after the Newsnight debate

But will Boris be hit by the national Tory collapse? Exactly four weeks from today six million Londoners will get the chance to vote on who will be their elected mayor for the next four years. The is the single biggest election in the British political calendar and all three parties will be striving for a good showing. For the Tories this could be their one bright spot on the night. With Labour moving to double digit national poll ratings…

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Tories drop to lowest YouGov share since the election

Tories drop to lowest YouGov share since the election

And Cameron drops 8pts in YouGov “best PM” ratings Sun/YouGov poll: Lab 42%, Con 32%, L/D 9%, UKIP 8% — Sun Politics (@Sun_Politics) April 4, 2012 Sun/YouGov poll: only 30% say Cameron would “make best PM” – down EIGHT pts in last 2 weeks and lowest since May 2010 — Sun Politics (@Sun_Politics) April 4, 2012 Sun/YouGov poll: Ed Miliband fails to cash in on Cam crisis. Only 19% say he would be “best PM” – up just one pt…

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Does it matter that the unions have influence over Labour?

Does it matter that the unions have influence over Labour?

Labour former General Secretary admits on @BBCR4Today Labour policy is basically dictated by the Unions. Express copy bit.ly/HJ3wsd — CCHQ Press Office (@RicHolden) April 4, 2012 Won’t whoever funds parties have influence? The ever energetic tweeters at Tory party HQ were out this morning flagging the comments by ex-LAB gen sec, Peter Watt, that the trade unions do have an influence over party policy. It was, surely, ever thus. The Labour party, as reflected in its name, was founded by…

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Romney sweeps 3 more states and it’s looking better for Obama

Romney sweeps 3 more states and it’s looking better for Obama

Betfair Politics The Democratic party has now moved to its highest point on the Betfair White House race winning party market with punters now making the split 67% t0 33%. Romney had his expected good night in Maryland and Washington DC while also winning Wisconsin by a closer margin than the polls suggested. In the states where the Romney money machine has thrown millions into negative TV advertising against Santorum it has won. But the victories have never been convincing…

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What do PB NightHawks think of the Boris-Ken fracas?

What do PB NightHawks think of the Boris-Ken fracas?

Who wins who loses from the shouting match? I’ve been in hospital for my operation for most of the day and am only now catching up with the Boris-Ken encounter at LBC building after a phone-in. For political punters the critical element is what this will do to the voting on May 3rd? Will this cause more people to come out to vote for Boris or the reverse. What is clear is that Ken is ultra sensitive about his tax…

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How government approval dropped sharply since the budget

How government approval dropped sharply since the budget

But they’re still nowhere near the Brown government at its worst. Lord Stewart Wood, one of Ed Miliband’s closest aides, is circulating the above government approval ratings and it’s hard to quibble that things are, to put it mildly, less than optimal for Cameron/Osborne. The latest from YouGov shows a negative of minus 43% – which is the worst they’ve been since the general election. In the chart above we see what happened in March. The budget and associated issues…

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Can Santorum confound the pollsters yet again?

Can Santorum confound the pollsters yet again?

Why I am betting on him at 18/1 to win Wisconsin Rick Santorum and George Galloway made Q1 2012 a very successful start to 2012 for my political betting. I had wins at up to 50/1 in Iowa, 100/1 in Colorado and, of course, 33/1 in last week’s Bradford by-election. My one loss was on Huntsman coming in second in New Hampshire. And so into Q2 and I’m taking a punt on Santorum in today’s Wisconsin primary. The polls suggest…

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A reminder about Thursday April 19

A reminder about Thursday April 19

Thanks again to Fat Steve for making the arrangements and to Marf for the invitation. I hope as many of you as possible will be able to join us. Can I emphasise that this is for lurkers as well as posters so don’t be put off from coming because you don’t usually post comments. If anybody wants to host an event for PBers elsewhere in the UK then please get in touch. I know that a follow-up to last year’s…

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