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Category: Campaigning

Why’s Dave campaigning where there’s no Tory candidate?

Why’s Dave campaigning where there’s no Tory candidate?

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Bedford Today Didn’t someone tell him about the nominations cock-up? Campaigning visits by party leaders and sitting PM’s to specific locations during the local elections are something of a rarity. The leader’s time is a precious resource and has to be used where it can do most good for the party. So how come that Cameron found himself this week putting fire in the bellies of Tory activists in the Bedford Borough ward of Oakley? For this is the only…

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Introducing “Old Etonians say No2AV”

Introducing “Old Etonians say No2AV”

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Is this how YES could motivate Labour voters? This is just my bit of fun – but with time running out for the YES I was wondering what I would do if I was running the campaign. Is it possible to reverse the sharp trend to rejecting any change? Isn’t this the moment take a different approach? Given that we know that “Dress-down Dave” is sensitive about his background as a Toff why not remind voters that the privileged classes…

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Why is Yes talking to itself?

Why is Yes talking to itself?

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Is comfort-zone campaigning going to cost it the referendum? Yesterday’s big referendum events demonstrated again the reason why No is winning the campaign on AV: they are talking to themselves; their opponents are talking to the voters. The Yes leaders appear to have made no effort to gain any traction with voters to the right of centre. At the very minimum, they’ve not succeeded in doing so. Not a single Conservative has been paraded, nor has anyone from the Orange…

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An Old and Sad by election? Punters make it 50:50

An Old and Sad by election? Punters make it 50:50

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PoliticalSmarkets Were the Woolas leaflets personal or political? The only betting market relating to today’s court announcement of the verdict in the Oldham East & Saddleworth case is the one above from Smarkets on where the next by election will be held? This is not very liquid although, as at 3am, there was £390 available to lay at 50% on the Phil Woolas seat NOT being the location of the first by election. The critical elements in the case are…

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Will the Woolas case change the way elections are fought?

Will the Woolas case change the way elections are fought?

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Whatever the outcome could the judgement set the standards? Exactly two weeks from today the judges in the Phill Woolas case will give their judgements on the way he and Labour carried out their campaign to hold onto Oldham East and Saddleworth. This is the first case of its kind over a Westminster seat in nearly a century and the judgement is likely to set the standards for future elections. For if the verdict goes against the ex-Labour minister who…

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Can Labour/EdM really ditch Iraq so easily?

Can Labour/EdM really ditch Iraq so easily?

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Channel 4 News Will the sore continue to fester? The beaten brother in Labour’s leadership election, David Miliband, is expected to make a statement today that could see the end of a front-line role in British politics. Certainly the way that the coverage of his bother’s maiden speech developed into the story of his reprimand to Harriet Harman for clapping the statement that the Iraq war was a mistake was a good illustration of what’s likely to happen if he…

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Will the coalition hit the winning Miliband hard from day one?

Will the coalition hit the winning Miliband hard from day one?

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Have they learnt the lesson of Cameron’s easy ride? Interesting piece from the Speccie’s James Forsyth in the Mail on Sunday on the coalition’s attack plans for when Dave or EdM is elected on the afternoon of September 25th. He writes: “This desire to launch an instant strike is a product of David Cameron’s own experience. When he became Tory leader in 2005, Brown wanted to go for him straight away but Tony Blair overruled him, arguing that they needed…

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Will making families poorer really boost the blues?

Will making families poorer really boost the blues?

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Was Osborne’s aim to stop Labour doing this again? For me the above Labour PEB was by far the best piece of campaigning by any party at the election. It was designed to sow doubts about what a Tory government would do by focussing on key issues that affect middle income voters. The child credit was its first main point. If there was a single reason why Labour recovered so well in the closing days campaign it was because they…

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