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Electoral reform might not be the panacea the left hope it is

Electoral reform might not be the panacea the left hope it is

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If the 2015 general election had been fought under PR, the Tories would most likely still be in government (probably in coalition with UKIP) There’s a very interesting story in today’s Independent on Sunday. Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, is in secret talks with Jeremy Corbyn about voting reform in a bid to form a progressive electoral alliance against the Conservatives. Mr Farron’s aides are talking to a Labour MP a close ally of Mr Corbyn who is acting…

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PB/Polling Matters podcast featuring Mike Smithson

PB/Polling Matters podcast featuring Mike Smithson

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On this week’s podcast Keiran discusses the initial BPC Polling Inquiry findings with Mike Smithson. Keiran explains some of the findings and why voting intention polls are not the same as public opinion polls. Mike argues that the polls being wrong shaped the General Election result and we discuss where polling goes from here and whether polling could face another crisis over the E.U. referendum result. Keiran and Mike also discuss the U.S. presidential race. Keiran argues we are underestimating…

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Why Labour lost in 2015

Why Labour lost in 2015

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Not even pledges by menhir could help Ed Miliband win a general election pic.twitter.com/7YVLtPG7xp — TSE (@TSEofPB) January 17, 2016 With Corbyn’s personal polling ranging from the calamitous to the cataclysmic it appears Labour are intent on repeating the mistakes of the 2015 general election This week sees two important reports published, firstly the BPC inquiry into why the polls were wrong, then there’s the publication of the report by Dame Margaret Beckett into why Labour lost, parts of Beckett’s…

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Alastair Meeks on why London is different and why Sadiq Khan should win comfortably

Alastair Meeks on why London is different and why Sadiq Khan should win comfortably

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The Grave of Karl Marx via wikimedia commons pic.twitter.com/r6w5UMdXOg — TSE (@TSEofPB) January 16, 2016 London is different.  We often hear that.  But just how different is it?  London’s Mayoral election is due in May.  With no incumbent, we are set for a fight between two rather less charismatic figures than before; neither Zac Goldsmith nor Sadiq Khan yet have the first name recognition or the tabloid quotability of the two previous office-holders.  Default party support is going to be…

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Jeremy Corbyn cannot afford to lose trade union support over Trident – it could be his undoing

Jeremy Corbyn cannot afford to lose trade union support over Trident – it could be his undoing

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Embed from Getty Images Get the debate over Trident renewal wrong and it might be trade union leaders – rather than the PLP – that Jeremy Corbyn has to worry about most writes Keiran Pedley Despite a difficult few days, Jeremy Corbyn seems to have emerged from last week’s reshuffle stronger than ever. He may not have got the Shadow Cabinet that he really wanted but piece by piece the Labour leader is shaping the party’s top team in his…

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How George Osborne is hoping to raid pension pots without you noticing

How George Osborne is hoping to raid pension pots without you noticing

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Alastair Meeks, former chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers, looks at George Osborne’s plans for pensions. When I qualified as a pension lawyer, my first boss used to say: “Alastair, when people hear the word ‘pension’, they think ‘old’, they think ‘grey’, they think ‘boring’.  But if every time you hear the word ‘pension’ you replace it with the word ‘money’, suddenly it seems so much more exciting.”  Today I’m going to talk to you about money. We have now…

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Why Sadiq Khan shouldn’t resign as an MP were he to become London Mayor

Why Sadiq Khan shouldn’t resign as an MP were he to become London Mayor

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In May, Khan might be the only electoral success for Labour and like Boris that could propel him towards the leadership of his party. I’ll be frank, I think Jeremy Corbyn is a disaster for Labour, with his and his team’s approach to politics there will be no electoral low that Labour won’t plunge under his leadership as evidenced by his poor personal polling. With the reshuffle this week I get the feeling the Parliamentary Labour Party have reached a…

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Not in my name: Alastair Meeks looks at Corbyn’s leadership style

Not in my name: Alastair Meeks looks at Corbyn’s leadership style

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No compromise on issue regarded by him as matters of principle In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the burning topic of the day – literally, on occasion –  was religion.  In England, the cutting edge of religious thought was found among what we now call the Puritans.  This label was originally in fact a catch-all term of abuse for a variety of different hardline Protestant groups and not one that those so labelled would have welcomed.  One of the seminal…

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