On Saturday we launched a series of posts on the various possibilities for Joe Biden as he ponders on who to choose for the VP slot on the ticket for WH2020. The second favourite in the betting is the Minnesota Senator, Amy Klobuchar, who pulled out of her White House bid to back Biden just before Super Tuesday. On Betfair Klobuchar is rated as a 22% chance and is in the second favourite slot for the VP nomination. There’s been…
Next month we will see the 50th anniversary of the most extraordinary general election of modern times – 1970 when Edward Heath led the Tories to victory. His party came to power with a working majority beating Harold Wilson Labour which also had a working majority. For there to be a change of government in such circumstances was actually quite unique. For at no other election in modern times has a party with a working majority taken over from another…
The first of a look at the main options The most lively political betting market at the moment is on who Joe Biden will choose to be his nominee for the vice presidential slot. The party convention is not due to take place until August vote but it is expected that he will make an announcement sometime before then. What makes this more important than usual is Biden’s age, 77, and occasionally the frail way that he appears. It is…
Keir Starmer always had a mountain climb and the covid-19 crisis has made his task even tougher. But, argues Joff Wild, writing Labour off at this stage would be a mistake The government is presiding over a mounting coronavirus death toll, many ministers seem completely out of their depth, Keir Starmer is beginning to provide considered and serious opposition, so why aren’t the headline numbers in the polls even hinting at a change of mood? The two most recent show…
It is perhaps worth reminding ourselves that today would have been General Election day if Theresa May had not gone early in 2017. When she took over as leader and Prime Minister after the referendum she made it very clear that she had no intentions of rushing into an early general election. Under the fixed-term Parliament Act the general election was due to take place on May 7th 2020 which given what is happening now with the coronavirus pandemic would…
The tabloids are very clear this morning that the shutdown is going to be eased next week. Johnson’s comments on yesterday receive great coverage and all sound positive for ministers provided of course, that he hasn’t over promised and that the change does not produce an increase in the death toll. I just wonder whether the tabloids have raised an expectation for an easing of the lockdown which is in excess of what is possible at the moment. One thing…
A big thank to Marf for the above drawing which I think is a great visual representation of the lockdown. Two weeks ago I reported here that the site’s main revenue sources, display advertising and affiliate income from bookmakers, had declined to almost a trickle and we were fast getting to a stage where my retirement pension was PB’s main revenue source. You responded brilliantly with more than 200 PBers making donations. Hopefully this will take us through this difficult…
Social distancing – the price There were some interesting posts on the overnight thread which perhaps should be given a wider audience. This from Cyclefree is one of the best and is on the impact of the the metres apart regime that all of us are having to handle. No hugs, no kissing. No intimacy. No quiet conversations or simply being close to someone. No choirs, no theatres, no concerts or gigs, no dancing, no visits to the cinema. No…