Browsed by
Category: Labour leadership

Did yesterday show that Ed Balls should be leader?

Did yesterday show that Ed Balls should be leader?

Comments 0 Comment

Will Cameron’s insult help his chances? Yesterday’s PMQ encounter between David Cameron and Ed Balls has continued to reverberate and I wonder whether it could have a long-term impact. For Cameron’s comments about Balls being ” the most annoying” is a tag that looks as though it will stick but I don’t think it will harm Balls – rather the reverse in fact. He, yet again, showed himself to be the most robust attacker of the Tories and the coalition…

Read More Read More

Is Jim Murphy for leader worth a punt at 33-1?

Is Jim Murphy for leader worth a punt at 33-1?

Comments 0 Comment

Could he be the safe pair of hands to replace EdM? After a winning bet at 33/1 that Ed Miliband would replace Gordon Brown I’ve placed a wager at the same same price this afternoon at Ladbrokes that Jim Murphy will be the next Labour leader. To me he is becoming the most impressive member of Labour’s front-bench team and his speech to Progress today is being well received on the LabourList website. His vision for the party combined with…

Read More Read More

Could FPTP be too ingrained within our culture?

Could FPTP be too ingrained within our culture?

Comments 0 Comment

Spetember 25 2010 – the moment EdM wins the Labour leadership Is this why AV winners are not seen as being legitimate? Aside from the build-up to next Thursday’s OES by-election two things have struck me most during the first week back after the holidays – the kicking that Ed Miliband seems to be getting in the media and the reactions here on PB to the elections for our poster of the year. The common element to both is the…

Read More Read More

Is Alan Johnson worth a 33-1 punt?

Is Alan Johnson worth a 33-1 punt?

Comments 0 Comment

Mail on Sunday What do we think of the Mail on Sunday story? I’ve just placed a bet with Ladbrokes against Alan Johnson as next Labour leader at the very attractive price of 33/1. What’s prompted it is the above report from the Mail on Sunday that Johnson is being urged to ‘ready himself’ to replace Ed Miliband who has only been in the job since September 25th. This seems to be be just about plausible given Alan Johnson’s very…

Read More Read More

Could Yvette replace EdM before the next general election?

Could Yvette replace EdM before the next general election?

Comments 0 Comment

Is there any way that he can get the media on his side? After his media hammering over the past 24 hours I’m beginning to wonder whether Ed Miliband will last the course and be replaced, probably by Yvette Cooper, before the general election. Since yesterday morning there’s been one story after another bringing bad news for the Labour leadership. Even Nick Robinson at the officially impartial BBC got into the act by mocking Ed’s term “the squeezed middle” as…

Read More Read More

Is Harriet the one in tune with Labour voters?

Is Harriet the one in tune with Labour voters?

Comments 0 Comment

Oldham E & Saddleworth decision – right or wrong? (YouGov) All voters CON voters LAB voters LD voters Right 71 82 65 82 Wrong 7 4 12 `8 Don’t know 22 14 23 10 Should there be laws to stop candidates lying about their rivals? (YouGov) All voters CON voters LAB voters LD voters “It is right that there should be laws” 74 86 69 77 “Such laws are a restriction on free speech and risk preventing robust debate” 9…

Read More Read More

Is Labour being punished for picking the wrong Miliband?

Is Labour being punished for picking the wrong Miliband?

Comments 0 Comment

Is this the reason for the disappointing polls? Just after mid-day, when Ed Miliband gets to his feet for his first PMQs as leader of the opposition, you can bet that some commentator somewhere will observe that the new Labour leader does not have the backing of the MPs behind him. For ever since EdM was declared winner on that September Saturday in Manchester there’ve been ongoing suggestions that somehow his election was illegitimate. It was as though newspapers and…

Read More Read More

Can we nail the “EdM result was leaked” myth?

Can we nail the “EdM result was leaked” myth?

Comments 0 Comment

Tom Harris Tweat Tom Harris is wrong to make this assertion As those who follow the political betting markets will be aware there was a massive turnaround in the betting on the Labour leadership race in the forty-eight hours before the result was announced at 4.45pm on Saturday September 25th. For several months David Miliband had been the hot odds on favourite until about 8pm on the Thursday evening before the results were announced. The betting then moved rapidly so…

Read More Read More