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Henry G asks: What price a 2011 election?

Henry G asks: What price a 2011 election?

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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…

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Is this the age of the SPADs?

Is this the age of the SPADs?

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Jonathan’s Sunday Slot The surprise departure of Alan Johnson this week marked a significant milestone for British politics. A new generation of professional politicians, the ex Special Advisers (SpAds), are now in complete command of politics in this country. Is this a change for the better? Will we benefit from having people who understand Westminster and Whitehall in charge? Or are there risks? Can a clique, with negligible outside experience, run the country? Labour is led by ex-special advisers. In…

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Nick Sparrow’s first PB polling column

Nick Sparrow’s first PB polling column

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The LibDem Collapse, Fact or Fiction The latest polls indicate that if another general election were to be held tomorrow Labour would sweep back to power with a majority (assuming uniform swing) of 46 over all other parties. The Conservatives would lose 45 seats, despite maintaining their 2010 share of the vote. The Liberal Democrats meanwhile would lose 41 of their 57 MPs, leaving them representing a paltry 16 Constituencies. In 7 short months since the 2010 election, 6 in…

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… and it’s a comfortable win for Labour

… and it’s a comfortable win for Labour

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Oldham East & Saddleworth: the result Labour     14,718     42.1 Lib Dem     11,160     31.9 Conservative         4,481     12.8 UKIP     2,029     5.8 BNP     1,560     4.5 Others     982     2.8 Labour Majority    3,558 Double Carpet The results for the Election Game are available here – well done to Raymond Kelly and Robert Barnsley who tied for the win.

While we await the Old & Sad result…

While we await the Old & Sad result…

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Andy Stephenson (via Wikimedia Commons) Continuation Thread …please continue the election night discussion here – and don’t forget to catch Our Genial Host on the BBC1 election result programme from 12.20. Double Carpet

The 2011 PB Prediction Competition

The 2011 PB Prediction Competition

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What do you think will happen this year? With the new year just over a week old and with Oldham East on Thursday, it’s time to sharpen your punditry skills and make your predictions for what could be a choppy year in British politics. Entries close 7pm Friday 14th January As before the competition is being hosted by the Election Game. If anyone would like to take part, the 2011 season is now underway – the Leaders & Finance game…

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The PB 2010 Prediction Competition Results

The PB 2010 Prediction Competition Results

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How PBers got 2010 right and wrong Congratulations to Yet Another David who finished 65 points ahead of Chris Read with Andrew Marshall in third place in the competition – the full table with all 131 players is available here, as well as an Excel spreadsheet showing the detailed breakdown of results. So what were the “Becher’s Brook” questions where people came unstuck? And what were the “dead certs” that nearly everyone got right? The first section looked at key…

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What’s going to be the political impact of this?

What’s going to be the political impact of this?

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How important is the student vote? As promised the NUS has launched its campaign of protests against student fees with a threat to unseat Lib Dem MPs. The situation is developing and the question is what will be the impact politically? One problem the NUS have is that they might be good at demos they have never shown the serious resolve to get students onto the electoral register and out to vote It’s that grunt work that could make them…

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