Last night we had Radio 4’s Any Questions in town. It was a good evening except for the fact that there was no Lib Dem on the panel. Instead we had as well as the statutory LAB & CON rep an SNP MP and the barely coherent deputy UKIP leader, Peter Whittle. You’d have thought that the BBC planners would have figured out that the Richmond by-election was taking place the day before and would likely feature a Lib Dem…
A smaller majority and greater Brexit pressure could force May’s hand The Lib Dems have their mojo back. Their result in Witney was good but safe seat or not, second is the best-placed loser. It’s winning that counts and it was a win that was delivered in Richmond Park on Thursday. After more than ten years without a gain, the campaign surge, the tactical votes and the Friday celebration must come as a long-overdue reminder of the good old days…
Would the Tories stand aside in a seat where UKIP was 2nd behind LAB . Today’s Richmond Park by-election highlights a very new development in British politics where the main issue of the day, BREXIT and its implementation, have become more important than parties. UKIP’s decision to stand aside in Richmond Park as well as the similar move by the Greens on the other side of the argument could mark something very different from what we are used to. At…
William Hill UKIP seats after next General ElectionNONE 10/11ONE 13/82+ 7/2 — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) November 28, 2016 William Hill believe offering odds of 4/11(73% chance) that new UKIP leader Nuttall will still be in post in 2018 — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) November 28, 2016
29% of those who’ve served as UKIP MEPs since 2009 have either been expelled or quit This afternoon’s big news from UKIP has been that Diane James, who won the November leadership contest only to pull out after 18 days, has now quit the party. She wants to remain as an MEP and is hoping to sit as an independent. She came to the forefront in February 2013, when she got very close in the Eastleigh by-election beating the Tories…
New Opinium pollCON 41% +1LAB 29% -3UKIP 12%LD 7% — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) November 19, 2016 Another polling blow for LAB on the economy this time from Opinium for ObserverTrust inCorbyn /McDonnell 18%May/Hammond 44% — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) November 19, 2016 As each month goes by the next election gets closer
YouGov: LDs could edge in front of LAB if it was only party with such a promise We all remember how in late 2002 and 2003 that the IDS-led Tories gave their backing to Blair’s invasion of Iraq. The Charles Kennedy-led LDs were the only national party to oppose and this stance stance helped them to their best ever performance at GE2005. We’ve now got a similar situation with BREXIT. May’s Tories have totally dished the idea and Labour’s position,…
An intriguing part of PMQs today was May’s response when asked if UKIP leader Nigel Farage will be given a peerage – this starting speculation that he will be. The PM’s response was “such matters are normally never discussed in public”. But there is a strong case for UKIP should have some peers created for it. The party came top in the 2014 Euros with 27% of the vote and most MEPs. At GE2015 it chalked up 4m+ votes but…