CON 41 (+2) LAB 27 (nc) LD 20 (+2) Con lead by 14 – highest Tory ICM share since March The Guardian ICM poll is now out and shows the Conservatives extending their lead over Labour by two points to 14 and above the important 40% barrier. The Conservatives have not scored this well in an ICM poll since March (before the expenses revelations broke) while Labour remain marooned on their second-worst ICM number since last June. Meanwhile the Lib…
Is this how Brown could be vulnerable over Afghanistan? With Speaker Bercow taking the sword to the House tradition of referring to ‘Honourable Members’ it was interesting to be reminded that in years past MPs who were Barristers were referred to as ‘Learned Members’ and those with military service referred to as ‘Gallant Members’. Whilst there is no shortage of lawyers in the House of Commons nowadays, the number of MPs with a military background is at an historically low…
Wikimedia Commons Is Dave’s style to pounce once others have made mistakes? It is clear that David Cameron is a successful leader of the Tory party, while in opposition. All successful leaders have a style, so identifying Cameron’s methods might give valuable insights into the betting value of certain policy announcements. Cameron has been accused of opportunism – grabbing whatever concept is currently popular and going with that. I’m not sure that covers the facts. The way in which the…
But why not more elections? I’ve just read the full transcript (courtesy of PoliticsHome) of David Cameron’s speech on quangos. He specifically says that what he is proposing is not ‘a bonfire of the quango’ but a deliberate move to limit their scope, number and budgets. Interestingly, he was prepared to single out some large and powerful organisations that will be culled or disempowered should he win power – including OFCOM, NICE, and the QCDA. The argument is simple and…
How could the public debate be made more accessable? The Sunday Times yesterday led with a story that Whitehall Mandarins are drafting plans for public sector spending cuts of up to 20%. This has not apparently been ordered by the government, and doesn’t form part of the Opposition liaison that takes place in the run-up to a General Election: this appears to be unbidden, out of a fear that such cuts will be required, even if they cannot be discussed…
Peter, Baron Mandelson, President of Europe? It’s not often that I completely disagree with Our Genial Host, but this week he suggested that Peter Mandelson, Baron of Hartlepool and Foy, was perhaps not as masterful at modern politics as had been claimed. Personally, I think he has handled his third time in the Cabinet with more poise and prowess than he brought to his previous times in office. Indeed, he has yet to have a finger laid on him (those…
Has Cameron gambled on the expenses issue going away? Yesterday’s news that George Osborne is to be investigated over his expense claims puts the issue back into the news. I suspect that in the public’s mind it never really went away. Largely ignored last week, in the news maelstrom surrounding Michael Jackson’s death, was an announcement that the Conservative Scrutiny Panel had finished its work. Reportedly no MPs were to be disciplined, and it looks like no Shadow Cabinet Ministers…
Will voters simply choose the nice guys? In the last fortnight, there have been a number of occasions when David Cameron has attacked Gordon Brown’s honesty – over debt levels, claims about capital spending, and over growth targets. The language used has been a little more stark than the usual false pleasantries cast across the Dispatch Boxes, and it has been chased up by some corners of the Fourth and Fifth Estates respectively. I can understand the thinking – if…