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Author: Mike Smithson

Is Biden going to stand again?

Is Biden going to stand again?

Normally incumbent Presidents don’t face a serious challenge when they seek re-election but next year things could be very different because Biden is so old. So far all the messages from the Biden camp are that he does plan to stand again even though he could be in his late 80s when his second term of office finally came to an end. I just wonder whether he could be facing a contested primary with one or two young challengers seeking…

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Could LAB gain all 3 of the October by-elections?

Could LAB gain all 3 of the October by-elections?

. First up is Rutherglen where punters have LAB as strong odds-on favourite to beat the SNP Then a fortnight later on October 19th we have Mid Beds and Tamworth – both seats held by the Tories at GE2019 with big majorities. Could it be that Labour is able to make two gains on the same day. to follow up its likely success in Scotland. Winning two on the same day us something that seemed highly likely in the Uxbridge…

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Hard to see a LAB overall majority with this poll

Hard to see a LAB overall majority with this poll

With Labour looking to want maybe least 25 gains from the SNP in Scotland to help it towards an overall majority there’s a new poll from YouGov. This has the party’s deficit there up 7%. This is disappointing for Starmer and the question is whether other pollsters in their Scottish polls find similar trends. We don’t often dwell on it but the challenge facing LAB at the election is absolutely massive if it wants to achieve an overall majority. The…

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Why LAB continues to be flattered by the polls

Why LAB continues to be flattered by the polls

Starmer should be sceptical of big leads On the face of it the latest Wikipedia polling table is very good for LAB and the party is heading for a landslide whenever the election is called The only problem is that there is a very large group of voters who went with the Tories in 2019 who continue to say don’t know. Most pollsters simply do not include them. According to the latest YouGov 23% of Conservative voters at the last…

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The Mid Beds Independent who might be worth a punt

The Mid Beds Independent who might be worth a punt

This is just a quickie but I am hearing a fair bit from Mid-Beds that a name that keeps on coming up on the doorstep is the chairman of Central Bedfordshire Council, Gareth Mackey. .He’s an independent councillor, who has announced he would stand as an independent, having previously said he would run in the constituency at the General Election. He’s clearly got a lot of name recognition in the parts of the seat that are covered by the Central Beds…

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Ex-Tory minister Heseltine says back the LDs

Ex-Tory minister Heseltine says back the LDs

Heseltine was always a strong supporter of the EU unlike almost of the modern Conservative leadership. During the Thatcher and Major years he was a leading cabinet minister and was at one stage was Deputy PM. He is now 90 years old. Mike Smithson

The Pension Triple lock abolition looks brave

The Pension Triple lock abolition looks brave

Oldies are most likely to be affected Those of us who have been following politics for some time will remember how important a policy the pension triple lock was at GE2010. This ensures that the state pension rises each year in accordance with prices, earnings or 2.5% which ever is the highest. Based on current trends as the Express is reporting that pensioners should be getting an 8.5% uplift this year. That does not now look likely if the reports…

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