Would it have been better to say nothing? Within the last hour Andrew Mitchell has made a statement on the events that have dogged his party now for three complete news cycles. He reiterated his original denial about not using the words that were attributed to him and made clear that he would not be resigning. So what was the purpose of the breakfast time statement? Mitchell said he wanted to draw a line under the incident yet his move…
It’s possible that they could finish in 5th place Talking with delegates here at the Lib Dem conference I get little sense of any appetite for a change at the top just now. The big hope is the same as the Tories – that come the May 2015 general election there will be the glimmer of an economic recovery and all the pain will have been worthwhile. Maybe – maybe not. But before then they have an electoral challenge that…
Has Iain Martin got this right? This is how the Telegraph’s Iain Martin sees the “f***ing plebs” affair now with its own #GateGate Twitter hash tag. Under the headline “Andrew Mitchell will be very lucky to hold onto his job“ Martin writes:- “…This is toxic for the Tories on several levels. It is shocking bad manners. Can anyone imagine a Tory cabinet minister of the 1950s or 1980s being so rude to a policeman, or indeed to anyone else in…
Everything depends on the “apology” turning things round Unless last night’s “apology” over making the pre-election student fees pledge turns things round for the party then it is hard to see how Nick Clegg can survive until the general election. Parliamentary parties are generally unsentimental about these things. If enough of a party’s MPs think that there’s a better chance of holding onto their seats at the general election with a different leader then with the Tories and Lib Dems…
Romney’s Betfair price has moved out to 3.1/1. Thanks to Politicalwire for this.
Note you can move the cursor right across the chart to get the figures on any day in the past year. This is the chart for Ohio – a state that over the past 88 years has only been taken by the Republicans when they have won the presidency. But it looks more competitive in Virginia – another key swing state. Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB
Everything contenders say will be scrutinised & magnified Just six days to be before the start of the 2012 party conference season and my betting is that leadership issues will be a common theme at at least two and possibly three of them. We’ve seen the media obsession with both Boris and Vince and with Labour Ed Miliband has yet to fully convince the home team. An indication that there might be trouble ahead is that with the Tories and…
Public Service Europe We are just one week away from the opening of the party conferences when the main objective of the leaders is to ensure that at the very minimum they get through unscathed with their positions not being undermined. This is the period in the year when it’s all about connecting with your base and the more you can be nasty about the other parties then the better. This is especially so for the coalition partners who’ll be…