It’s situation normal at the Olympics
The GB golds keep on coming
It looks like the new boundaries are in trouble
Clegg will says abandoned elected Lords means no strengthened executive check in Lords and that means smaller Commons must go too. — Patrick Wintour (@patrickwintour) August 6, 2012 Clegg prepares to make statement on Lords reform Who said that August was going to be a quiet political month? Patrick Wintour of the Guardian has Tweeted what I understand will be the essence of Nick Clegg’s statement on Lords reform this afternoon. It looks as though the ground is being prepared…
Could Louise Mensch’s seat provide the opening for a Boris return?
Northants Telegraph Would the Mayor stand in the Corby by-election This was the result from May 2010. CON 42.2 LAB 38.6 LD 14.5 BNP 4.7 More followsGiven the way the polls have moved since the election then a LAB gain must be a nailed on certainty. But could Boris stop the rot? Would this be a great platform for a return to the commons? Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB
Could Osborne’s scalp be the price of the coalition continuing?
Would Dave sack his mate to remain PM? If the Olympics were not on then the story that would be dominating the headlines would be Cameron’s decision to put party unity ahead of the coalition on Lords reform. It’s been widely reported that Dave is going to abandon the plan following the rebellion by Tory back-benchers last month. The question now is what next? How will Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems respond? There’ve been suggestions that Dave will try…
How long can the Liberal Democrats keep losing members?
The Henry G Manson column The news that according to their accounts Liberal Democrats have lost a quarter () of their party membership in just 12 months means it is probably now worth asking how much more can the yellow party can take? The figures highlighted by Crick show there were 48,934 members at the end of 2011 compared with 65,038 a year before. This is alongside two years of poor local election results taking the party to fewer than…
Will this be a vote winner for the Lib Dems?
The Independent is reporting that A government-wide spending review is to be scaled back because Nick Clegg is refusing to commit to billions of pounds of further cuts in the welfare budget…whilst  the Liberal Democrats are likely to fight the election on a pledge to clear the remaining deficit through tax rises such as a mansion tax on homes worth more than £2m and a cut in the 40 per cent tax relief on pension contributions enjoyed by higher rate taxpayers….
Olympics poll has public backing growing almost by the hour
Public scepticism about whether the London Olympics represent value for money for British taxpayers has receded now the Games have begun, according to a ComRes poll for The Independent. Some 50% believe the Olympics will be worth the £9.3bn being spent while 42% disagree. Opinion has turned round since ComRes last tested this idea in March, when only 40% of people thought the Games would be worth it and 51% disagreed. The latest poll suggests that the opening ceremony gave…
Coalition “managing economy” ratings slump to record low
YouGov data: PB chart And another YouGov boost for Vince Cable Preferred Chancellor Total(change) Vince Cable 28% (+6) William Hague 15% (-1) Ken Clarke 9%(-) Phillip Hammond 2% (-1) Theresa May 2%(-) Nick Clegg 2%(-) Don’t know 43% (-4) The change figures shows the shifts in the past week to the question “which of the following do you think would make the best replacement Chancellor of the Exchequer?” Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB