Guardian Could we end up with only the Miliband brothers? The Guardian is running a comment column by John Cruddas ruling himself out of the race. The Dagenham MP who came in third in the 2007 deputy race was seen as a possible outsider helped by the fact that he refused to serve in the Brown government. This will shake up the betting. My guess is that it will help Ed Miliband. With Ed Balls said to be concerned about…
Labour leadership betting PoliticalSmarkets Ladbrokes David Miliband 60% 1/2 Ed Miliband 30% 11/4 Ed Balls 10% 12/1 Andy Burnham 25% 14/1 John Cruddas 6.25% 16/1 Harriet Harman 3.3% 25/1
Will Byrne’s “joke” letter come to haunt Labour? In a BBC interview a few minutes ago the new Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Lib Dem David Laws, told of a letter that was waiting for him from his Labour predecessor when we arrived to take up his new role. The letter was from Liam Byrne and consisted of just one sentence – “I’m afraid to tell you there is no money left.” I assume it was meant as joke but…
Will this be the coalition’s first big PR test? It’s hard to dispute the political logic of this morning’s main story in the Times – Cameron and Clegg are going to need to create scores, maybe well in excess of 100, new peers simply to ensure that legislation gets through the upper house. As the paper notes: “None of Labour’s 211 existing peers can be removed, so the coalition must appoint dozens of its own to rebalance the upper chamber….
A couple of North-West PBers are putting together a gathering in Manchester on Wednesday June 23rd 2010. The venue has yet to be finalised. I’ll be travelling north to join them. If you think that this might be of interest please indicate in the thread below. At this stage we are trying to establish the level of interest. Mike Smithson
Observer Are the new LD ministers the ones who ousted him? Spare a thought this May Sunday for the former Lib Dem leader, Charles Kennedy, as he surveys what is happening to his party four and a quarter years after he was ousted. How does he feel about the fact that many of the colleagues who are now being driven about in ministerial limos are the same ones forced the issue of his leadership in January 2006? And the Prime…
UPDATED to include ICM ICM for the S. Telegraph ICM: “…is the coalition the right way forward for Britain after the general election resulted in a hung parliament…” AGREE All surveyed including non-voters 64% Tory voters 87% Lib Dem voters 77% ComRes for the S. Mirror/IoS “… the Lib Dems appear to have sold out on their principles.†AGREE DISAGREE All surveyed including non-voters 41% 47% Lib Dem voters 34% 61% “I believe Nick Clegg should have opted for a…
Will she really allow an all-male shortlist? The Labour leadership contest is being dominated in the early stages by David Miliband, who is heavily odds-on with all outlets. While the usual rule for Labour Leadership elections is that the favourite wins, there just look to be too many variables at the moment to justify such short odds on the former Foreign Secretary. Perhaps the biggest variable is what the field will be. Other than the Milibands, there are no other…