Knowing the date of the PM’s departure could be the key It’s a big day for George Osborne. Cameron is away so, as the First Secretary of State in the new Conservative Government, he will be taking PMQs for the very first time – a very clear statement of his position in the pecking order. Looking back he has a lot in common with James Callaghan in 1976. It was widely agreed that in the LAB contest of that year…
Zac Goldsmith to run for Mayor of London http://t.co/IPW4FCRgMu pic.twitter.com/YMtUqACyPy — Coffee House (@SpecCoffeeHouse) June 9, 2015 Ladbrokes now make a Zac Goldsmith 3/1 to be next London Mayor. Last year he was a 50/1 chance — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) June 9, 2015 The 3/1 that Zac’ll win looks a good bet According to Joe Murphy in the Standard Zac’s candidature is dependent on the outcome of a referendum he is holding in his Rixhmond Park constituency. In a unique…
Being able to confront Ed was an opportunity that he fluffed For me one of the best bits of TV during the campaign was at the end of yesterday’s Andrew Marr show when the programme’s two main participants traditionally join each other on the sofa for the closing couple of minutes. This time it was Boris and Ed and the wide judgement was that the Mayor lost. This is how Nick Robinson saw it. Wonder how many Tories still think…
Boris was net 30 points ahead of Ken in the leader ratings This is the first in a short series of posts looking at polling that highlights areas that could cause problems on May 7th. This one concerns the strength of the Labour brand when everything seemed lost. Everybody knows that Boris pulled off a spectacular victory in the May 2012 London Mayoral Election when things were going badly for his party nationally. Yet what has been largely forgotten is…
Look at what happened with his 2012 election Hills have cut their odds for Boris Johnson to be the next Prime Minister from 8/1 to 6/1 second favourite behind 4/5 favourite Ed Miliband. This seems weird because just about the only chance there is of a vacancy occurring is if Cameron wins the election when he’ll remain at Number 10. The mayor’s big opportunity will most likely come if Dave loses or he decides to step down in a few…
The Sun: Boris faces serious challenge in his effort to become GE2015 candidate in Uxbridge http://t.co/fvhdNsOts9 pic.twitter.com/vs1TzYauLw — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) September 4, 2014 Boris’s selection for Uxbridge is not a foregone conclusion We all know that the main impediment to Boris being Cameron’s successor is that he’s not an MP. That appeared to have been resolved a few weeks ago when he made it clear that he would seek to return to the Commons at GE2015. Suddenly the London…
The mayor’s the only one who could stop UKIP in its tracks One of the big political decisions that the Tories will have to make in the next few weeks is who should be the candidate to fight UKIP defector, Douglas Carswell, in Clacton. The consequences for Cameron’s party of a UKIP victory in the seat are enormous and they have to do everything they can to stop him. Boris Johnson has decided he wants to return to the commons…
Lord Ashcroft has polled the Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency, about Boris, and it generally makes for great reading for the Mayor of London. The phone poll was conducted this week. It should be noted, the standard VI poll not mentioning Boris, shows a Con to Lab swing of 5.5%, which would indicate an approximate 3% Labour lead nationwide, which is in line with the national polling. The one downside for Boris is 50% of the voters don’t want him…