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Author: David Herdson

Gerrymandered congressional districts could save the House for the GOP

Gerrymandered congressional districts could save the House for the GOP

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But a GOP-controlled House leaves Trump with fewer excuses for 2020 The Great Dealmaker has not had the greatest first seven months in the White House. No wall, no healthcare reform, a chaotic West Wing and innumerable self-inflicted PR gaffes are not an ideal start to a presidency. Ironically, the one president that Trump rates himself behind is perhaps the only one to have had a worse start: at least there’s been no civil war so far. Those failures and…

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James Chapman’s Democrats notion is a doomed distraction

James Chapman’s Democrats notion is a doomed distraction

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The existing parties are the only ones that can stop Brexit James Chapman is not a name that many people will have been aware of before this week. Some will remember him as the Political Editor of the Daily Mail; a few might recall that he became George Osborne’s Director of Communications after the 2015 election; fewer still will have known that he was briefly Chief of Staff at David Davis’ Brexit Department. He has, however, now burst back onto…

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The next election will be decided in Britain, not Venezuela

The next election will be decided in Britain, not Venezuela

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The public is not bothered about Corbyn’s past endorsements (even if it should be) Unless Theresa May or her successor can overturn over a trend well over a century old, Labour will form the next government. Quite simply, once governments start losing seats from one election to the next, they continue losing seats until they’re in opposition. And not only did the Conservatives lost seats at the last election but the result was so tight that any further loss would…

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Back Trump to be impeached in 2019 at 18-1

Back Trump to be impeached in 2019 at 18-1

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Making enemies could cost him dear, as McCain has already shown Donald Trump is an unusual president. Unusual in the same way that a triceratops turning up at Crufts would be unusual. He is not merely of a different species; his whole manner and understanding of the role are utterly alien to DC. Even by his standards though, this week has been extraordinary. He publicly attacked his own Attorney General, he banned transgender people from serving in the military (without…

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Can Vince make a Brexit-exit work for the Lib Dems?

Can Vince make a Brexit-exit work for the Lib Dems?

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And can he expand new Lib Dems support beyond Europhiles? In the week when the Brexit talks finally got down to business, the Lib Dems acquired a new leader to head up the fight to – well, that’s the first question: what exactly are the opponents of the government’s Brexit policy (which itself is hardly perfectly defined) themselves advocating? Vince Cable is already seeking to ride more than one horse on Brexit, advocating both that Britain remain within the Single…

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This week’s Euratom row does not bode well for the year ahead

This week’s Euratom row does not bode well for the year ahead

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Brexit will obsess the political class and estrange the public In a week’s time, our MPs will have packed up for the Summer recess and will be settling down to their traditional pass-times of making pleasantries at constituency events, exposing bad taste in casual dress, and long-distance plotting. By the time they return on a full-time basis (they pop back for a week in September before conference season), more than a quarter of the time set aside for Britain’s Brexit…

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Corbyn is a survivor: back him to last until 2019 at least

Corbyn is a survivor: back him to last until 2019 at least

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The election has transformed expectations and confidence within Labour With so much focus on whether Theresa May will survive – or perhaps more accurately, for how long – it’s an opportune time to have a look at the same bet on the other side. After all, the value is often there to be had when people aren’t paying enough attention. And value there must be for the simple reason that the Corbyn Exit Date market has perhaps the single worst…

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Tactical voting didn’t win it for the Scottish Tories

Tactical voting didn’t win it for the Scottish Tories

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But genuine gains from the Lib Dems and Labour did. Jeremy Corbyn would be prime minister today if the Scottish Tories had done as badly three weeks ago as they did in 2015 (or any of the previous four elections). Without the dozen gains north of the border, a deal with the DUP wouldn’t have given her the numbers and a deal with anyone else couldn’t have been done. It would have been game over. Given the different nature of…

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