As some of you may have noticed at 2:20am on Super Tuesday, our existing server infrastructure (which was put in place three and a half years ago), is creaking. A new server has been acquired, and on Sunday (starting in the small hours of the morning) we’ll be migrating everything across. With a little luck, everything will be up and running by 8am on Sunday morning. But, of course, it may take longer, be more complex, etc., than anticipated. Normal…
Betfair alone sees £5m being traded on the White House race With eight and a half months to go before the US election in November it’s clear that the race will become the biggest political betting event ever on UK markets. So far on the Betfair exchange alone just on £5m worth of bets have been traded and my estimate is that with the spread firms and the fixed odd bookies well over £10m has now been wagered on the…
This article by Roger Simon appeared on the Politico site this afternoon. Click in the graphic to read the full feature. If this is the case then it could add even more uncertainty.
A new YouGov Poll for the Sunday Times tomorrow, according to the Press Association has some good news for the Tories. “…Questioned on their voting intentions, some 41% of those taking part said they would back the Tories (down two points on a similar poll last month), 32% Labour (down one) and 16% the Liberal Democrats (up two). The overall Conservative lead was down marginally from 10 points to nine compared to the last comparable poll.” The changes reported by…
2008 Oscars. I’ve listed the nominations in the important categories and my tips for the winners. Those who know my political predictions might want to tread carefully! Best Actor. George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Johnny Depp, Tommy Lee-Jones, Viggo Mortensen. Stand out winner Daniel Day-Lewis. Best Supporting Actor. Casey Affleck, Javier Bardem, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Hal Holbrook, Tom Wilkinson. The bookies favourite and the safe bet is Javier Bardem in ‘No Country’. A modern Frankenstein! Casey Affleck has a tiny outside…
Could 1997 have Been Worse for the Conservatives On polling day in 1997, I asked my association agent what result we could expect in Hertsmere, where we were defending a majority of 18,000. I can remember my shock when he told me that he wasn’t sure we could hold it, but if we did, it would only be by a couple of thousand (in the end, the Conservative majority was 3,000). Even after polls had closed, I could not believe…
Can we rely on the views of just 240 people? With just eleven weeks to go before Britain’s biggest single mandate election which involves more than five million voters the main candidates are today taking part in the first hustings. The winner will occupy what is probably the most power political post in the country with far fewer constraints than almost any other politician in central or local government. If interest is anything like what we saw in 2000 and…
Livingstone versus Johnson Round Up. This is turning out to be pretty vicious contest. Ken Livingstone’s supporters are portraying Boris Johnson as alternatively, a racist, gay-bashing, bigot, or a bumbling upper-class twit. Boris Johnson’s supporters (particularly in the media) portray Ken Livingstone as running a corrupt, partisan, regime at City Hall, while pandering to the most hardline elements of the Capital’s Muslim population. It is all highly entertaining, and reminiscent of some of the most bitter political battles one sees…