Could Dave beat Maggie’s 11 years at Number 10? As we face the real prospect of a change of government it is a sobering thought that these days parties stay in office for quite considerable periods of time. Labour will have been there for 13 years assuming they go on until 2010. Before that, of course, the Tories went on from 1979 right through until 1997 – a total of eighteen years. For once confidence in a party of government…
Could he still be a contender if the conditions were right? Like many, I guess, I thought that John Reid had decided to step down from the national political scene when he made clear before Gordon’s succession last year that he did not want to continue with a cabinet role. He had ruled himself out of any future involvement. Well things might not be as they seem and I was intrigued by this comment by the Telegraph’s astute Scottish political…
Will Gordon look more secure after today? Ten days on from the Crewe & Nantwich by-election and MPs return to Westminster today after their long spring break. This will be the first chance many Labour members will have had to talk face to face with parliamentary colleagues about the challenges facing the party and the prospects for the next general election. What will mood be like? Will Gordon feel a tad safer after today? My guess is that he will…
Remember how the deputy was called wrongly for Alan Johnson? The final Saturday of June last year saw a big political betting event come to a climax – who would come out on top in Labour’s hugely complicated electoral system in the ballot to be Gordon’s deputy. The polls said Alan Johnson, the betting said Alan Johnson, even Sky News and the Daily Telegraph website above called it for Alan Johnson only a few minutes before the big announcement was…
Click on the panel for the full story. Supporting Politicalbetting In recent weeks several people have asked if there could be a way to make donations to help keep the site going and two people have made generous contributions. To make this easier I’ve now set up a PayPal donations facility. Click on the donate button below. Thank you for all your kind words and ongoing support. Mike Smithson
Johnson favoured over Miliband by PoliticsHome panel Andrew Rawnsley, at PoliticsHome, has announced the results of one of their Phi100 surveys on the leadership of the Labour Party. He writes: “Labour would have a better chance of winning the next election under a different leader. That’s the strong view of the PHI100, Britain’s most authoritative survey of inside and expert political opinion. Asked which Labour politician would maximise the party’s chances of holding on to power, less than one six…
Is the 42 days vote the next crunch time for Brown? So, it hasn’t been Milburn, or Clarke, or Miliband. The post-Crewe bank holiday weekend has passed without any major figure stepping out to publically take on the PM, and the febrile atmosphere has subsided slightly as ministers have rallied round their embattled, if not quite fatally wounded, leader – but as a new week begins, a new issue raises its head, this time over road tax and fuel duties….
Click the panel to read it.