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Month: March 2014

Politicalbetting.com: Ten years old today and still going strong

Politicalbetting.com: Ten years old today and still going strong

Thank you for your continued support It was on March 23rd 2004 that PB began – ten years ago today and I thought that this should be something that we should mark and celebrate. It began simply because I like talking about and making forecasts on electoral outcomes and I wanted a platform where I can could engage with like minded people. My son, Robert, was the catalyst and he’s played a huge part over the past decade handling the…

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UPDATED: Both YouGov and Survation report that CON almost closing the gap

UPDATED: Both YouGov and Survation report that CON almost closing the gap

Sunday Times pic.twitter.com/otaZJZGfbw — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) March 22, 2014 Survation finds CON now 2nd place for Euro Elections UPDATE: UKIP slip to 3rd place in Survation Euro2014 poll Not quite cross-over but nearly there Tonight’s Survation poll for the Mail on Sunday provides a massive boost for the Tories following the budget. The pollster, which pioneered prompting for Farage’s party, has traditionally had the biggest shares for UKIP. That’s down 3 to 15% while the Tories jump 4. The…

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A timely reminder from Populus of how little most people follow political events

A timely reminder from Populus of how little most people follow political events

Case study this week’s Budget Great info from @PopulusPolls on what people recall was in the budget pic.twitter.com/MHD11Jq7xq — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) March 22, 2014 I like this chart because it reinforces a point that I make a lot – that most voters pay little attention to politics even big events like this week’s budget. There was wall-to-wall TV coverage on the day followed by extensive reports and analysis in the bulletins. In the Thursday papers seven of the nationals splashed…

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Don’t bet on a Tory Euro-win unless you expect a Blue landslide in 2015

Don’t bet on a Tory Euro-win unless you expect a Blue landslide in 2015

EP2014 betting pic.twitter.com/J0flbsW18s — PolPics (@PolPics) March 21, 2014 Governments rarely win interim elections William Hague was not a very successful leader of the opposition.  Against Blair’s prolonged political honeymoon, Hague’s Conservatives were regularly so far behind in the polls as to be out of sight.  Not only did they fail to gain a single seat during the parliament but they actually went backwards, losing Romsey to the Lib Dems. However, in the midst of that constant popular battering, he…

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Local By-Election Results: March 20th 2014

Local By-Election Results: March 20th 2014

Wroxham on Broadland (Liberal Democrat defence) Result: Lib Dem 482 (48%), Con 341 (34%), UKIP 112 (11%), Lab 63 (6%) Liberal Democrat HOLD with a majority of 141 (14%) Gamston on Rushcliffe (Conservative defence) Result: Con 444 (44%), Lab 218 (22%), UKIP 173 (17%), Lib Dem 170 (17%) Conservative HOLD with a majority of 226 (22%) Turnout: 26% Cellarhead on Staffordshire, Moorlands (Staffordshire Independent defence) Result: Con 175 (32%), Lab 132 (24%), Staffs Ind 119 (22%), UKIP 105 (19%), Lib…

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The way opinion is moving in Scotland the value IndyRef bet is now on YES

The way opinion is moving in Scotland the value IndyRef bet is now on YES

The betting seems to be lagging behind the polls This morning I made my first serious Scottish IndyRef bets and my money went on YES. This is not a prediction but my assessment of how I think the betting will move in the coming weeks and months. There has been a clear tightening in the polls and if this continues I can see the YES price moving in with NO moving out. The prices, seen in the chart, are quite…

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YouGov finds 66 percent backing Osborne’s budget but LAB’s 5pc lead remains

YouGov finds 66 percent backing Osborne’s budget but LAB’s 5pc lead remains

Times fromt page story on polling reaction to the budget pic.twitter.com/tvFnasDwtE — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) March 21, 2014 Tonight's YouGov/Sun poll, the first to be carried out wholly after the budget has CON 34 LAB 39 LD 10 UKIP 10 — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) March 20, 2014 Voters might have already made their minds up about GE2015 and there’ll be little shifting As can be seen from the Times front page the first Budget polling by YouGov finds strong support from voters for the…

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Local By-Election Preview: March 20th 2014

Local By-Election Preview: March 20th 2014

Wroxham on Broadland (Liberal Democrat defence) Result of last election (2011): Conservatives 34, Liberal Democrats 12, Labour 1 (Conservative majority of 21) Result of ward at last election (2011): Emboldened denotes elected Liberal Democrats 985, 829 Conservatives 741, 537 Labour 227 Greens 197 Candidates duly nominated: Alex Cassam (Lib Dem), Malcolm Kemp (Lab), David Moreland (UKIP), Fran Whymark (Con) Gamston on Rushcliffe (Conservative defence) Result of last election (2011): Conservatives 34, Liberal Democrats 6, Labour 5, Independents 3, Green 2…

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