CON 40 (-2) LAB 25 (nc) LD 20 (+2) “Others” continue to take a big slice There was a weekend poll after all – in the People which now seems to be doing a monthly survey with YouGov. I did look a couple of times at the paper’s website overnight on Sat/Sun but nothing seemed to be on it. The numbers have not changed that much although the Tories might be a tad disappointed to be down a couple of…
A guest article from Sean Fear The only good thing about the form of proportional representation used for the European Elections last month is that it allowed people to vote with their hearts, rather than their heads. There was no need to vote tactically. People just voted for the party that they most agreed with. Overall, the results were very good for eurosceptics. 25% of the vote went to parties that wished to withdraw from the EU, and a further…
What’s happened to the Lib Dem by-election machine? Another by-election has come and gone with another Labour loss and another gain for the Conservatives, only their second since losing power twelve years ago. That rarity says much about the Conservatives but it’s not as if governments haven’t lost by-elections in that time, it’s just that the Tories didn’t win them. The Lib Dems were the acknowledged masters of parliamentary by-elections. From the heady days of the Alliance onwards, a steady…
Mail Online Nothing’s happened after previous threats so why believe this? Well here we are taking a first look at the Sunday papers after another election disaster for Labour and what do we see? Yes threats by Labour MPs to try to force Brown to quit. The key part of the story is this: “The Mail on Sunday has been told that the ‘guerrilla MPs’ would start resigning at staged intervals throughout the summer and autumn, forcing a series of…
Guardian Unlimited Are we being prepared for Chancellor Hammond? The main lead in the Guardian today is that featured above and deals with the massive issue that will dominate the Tory government if they do indeed win the election – spending cuts. For me what’s interesting is the it’s based on an interview with Philip Hammond – not the shadow chancellor, George Osborne. On the face of it this seems odd and reinforces my earlier view that it’s Hammond not…
Could many newbies step straight into ministerial jobs? After yesterday let us assume a Conservative majority at the next General Election and if the betting markets are right then the incoming government would have upwards of 350 MPs. Of those only about 195 are Conservative MPs at present but taking account retirements and other factors only about 175 of the expected 350, about half, will have had any experience of serving in Parliament – a proportion that would increase if…
Sky News ..Or does Norwich suggest that the decline is terminal? By the standards of C&N the result was a big disappointment to the Tories who failed to get the sort of vote uplift that we saw in the Cheshire by election last year. But in many ways it did not matter because the election underlined the big trend in British politics at the moment – the terrible collapse of the Labour vote. For UKIP and other parties can syphon…
And what do you think? Still as I write the result has not been announced but according to my car radio it is imminent – but they’ve been saying that for more than half an hour. At the moment I’m driving from Bedford to see my daughter’s family in Croydon and will give a considered response later in a new thread. Watch this space. Mike Smithson