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Category: About the site

For Politicalbetting’s 15th anniversary today – a special cartoon from Marf

For Politicalbetting’s 15th anniversary today – a special cartoon from Marf

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Exactly 15 years ago today PB was launched Today PB celebrates it’s 15th birthday,  making it, I’d suggest, just about the longest surviving major political blog in the UK. We were up and operational before Guido, Conservative Home, Labour list and many of the other major political sites that we are familiar with today. I cannot recall a site that existed before we did that is still active. When PB was launched on March 23rd 2004 Tony Blair still had…

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Christmas Day on PB wouldn’t be Christmas without the StJohn Christmas Crossword (est 2007)

Christmas Day on PB wouldn’t be Christmas without the StJohn Christmas Crossword (est 2007)

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Renewing a great tradition One of the great traditions on PB has been the StJohn Christmas Crossword. The has been published on most Christmas days on the site since 2007. Its creator, StJohn, is one of quite a group of PBers who have been coming here almost since the site’s foundation in 2004. This is his 2018 offering. Enjoy. Across clues 1 Restructuring of Israeli trio in government (11) 7 Half the Chancellor’s responsibility is growth (3) 9 Become less…

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Off to Westminster to give evidence before the House of Lords Committee that’s looking at political polling

Off to Westminster to give evidence before the House of Lords Committee that’s looking at political polling

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This morning alongside Matthew Shaddick (Shadsy) of Ladbrokes I’ll be giving evidence before the Lords Committee that’s investigating political polling particularly in view of what happened at GE17. Our part of the session is due to start at 1145. We’ve been told that the hearing will be shown live on Parliament.tv. I’m a blogger and a Tweeter and have never done anything quite like this before. To say I’m a bag of nerves is an understatement. I found myself waking…

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The Sky Bet decision that points to problems for sites like PB

The Sky Bet decision that points to problems for sites like PB

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If others shut down affiliate programme then main revenue streams could be hit Affiliates are third-party companies who work on commission for gambling retailers by directing traffic (customers) to their sites. In the last few years the use of affiliate companies has vastly increased due to the tighter regulation and rising cost of traditional advertising. A 2015 study by the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) estimates that over £16.5bn worth of sales were the result of this performance based marketing. In…

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Remembering Mark Senior – poster on PB 2004-2017

Remembering Mark Senior – poster on PB 2004-2017

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Last week, a couple of days before the end of my holiday, we had the sad news that one of PB’s leading posters almost since the site started, Mark Senior, has died. Over nearly a decade and a half he became a key part of the site’s unique commenting community and although I never met him I am sure that others feel like I do that we know him from our interactions over such a long period. I’ve not been…

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From Core TV – focus on PB, Brexit, the “Democrats”, the Tory leadership and more

From Core TV – focus on PB, Brexit, the “Democrats”, the Tory leadership and more

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No David Herdson with his usual Saturday morning post this morning but instead this TV feature on PB and many of the issues we’ve been discussing on the site over the past few weeks. This interview, by Rob Double, was recorded yesterday afternoon for Core TV the new online news and politics channel. My views and assessments won’t be unfamiliar to regular PBers. Mike Smithson Follow @MSmithsonPB Tweet

This might be a bit late but PBers are invited to a post GE17 event tomorrow at the London Olympic Park

This might be a bit late but PBers are invited to a post GE17 event tomorrow at the London Olympic Park

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We welcome @IpsosMORI @ComRes @Survation @GfK & @MSmithsonPB to our free #GE2017 event tomorrow https://t.co/c9wNy14tPn #polling #NewMR #Mrx pic.twitter.com/5I8leh53sk — Loughborough CRCC (@lboroCRCC) July 18, 2017 This event provides an exploration of the momentous 2017 General Election from the perspectives of those most intimately involved as strategists, journalists and analysts. It will feature contributions from the campaigning, news and social media as well as polling organisations involved in the election. Participants include Ric Bailey (BBC), Jay Blumler (Univ of Leeds),…

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Just to confirm: Friday’s Pre-GE2017 gathering WILL be taking place

Just to confirm: Friday’s Pre-GE2017 gathering WILL be taking place

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Several people have been asking if Friday’s PB gathering is still going to take place. The answer is yes. It will start at the Lord Raglan pub, 61 St Martins le Grand, St Pauls EC1A 4ER from 6.30pm. An area downstairs called the Fireplace has been booked. As well as being close to St Paul’s the Lord Raglan is only minutes walk away from Farringdon and City Thameslink stations with their direct links to Gatwick and Luton airports, Brighton and…

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