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Category: Labour

Will the “Draft Miliband” plan persuade him to stand?

Will the “Draft Miliband” plan persuade him to stand?

The Guardian steps up the pressure with today’s main splash With just four weeks to go to May 9th – one of the the dates being touted for Tony Blair’s historic exit announcement – the Guardian ratchets up the anti-Brown coronation rhetoric with its front page lead this morning. Under the headline “Blairite plot to lure Miliband into leadership contest” the paper’s Patrick Wintour reports that MPs would be encouraged to declare their support for the environment secretary on the…

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Are we heading for another Betfair mess-up?

Are we heading for another Betfair mess-up?

How will the betting exchange settle the departure date market? Anybody who had money on last November’s US MidTerms Senate market with Betfair will know what happens when the rules are not tied down tight enough. Then Betfair settled the election on the basis of a tie even though the actual outcome was that the Democrats took control of the Senate. Then the problem was the position of two senators who had not gone into the election as Democratic candidates…

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Should Miliband learn from the Gordon of 1992?

Should Miliband learn from the Gordon of 1992?

Is Miliband going to do it or not? If the young environment secretary wants a good example of the dangers of not taking leadership chances when they occur he need look no further than Gordon Brown himself. For one of the clear messages to come out of yesterday’s marathon showing of the 1992 general election results programme was the powerful position that Gordon had in the immediate aftermath of Labour’s defeat. The eventual replacement for Kinnock, John Smith, was being…

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BrandIndex betting – How low can Gordon go?

BrandIndex betting – How low can Gordon go?

The week we would rather forget We said last week that it looked tough and how right we were. We did consider passing and now wish we had. It seems that the barrage of criticism which Gordon Brown is facing has seriously impacted his popularity score. It was down an astonishing 5.4 points to 56.4, his lowest ever and close to the dire 55.1 which Tony Blair recorded on February 22nd. Not that the Great Leader fared much better. He…

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Reid “pressing Miliband to stand against Brown”

Reid “pressing Miliband to stand against Brown”

As the polls get worse the pressure for a challenge grows Against a background of new polls from YouGov and ICM showing the impact of the 1997 pension row on Brown’s current standings (see previous story) there’s the above lead in the Sunday Telegraph stating that the Home Secretary is adding his weight to those urging David Miliband to challenge for the leadership when Tony steps down. For a long period, of course, Reid himself was seen as a possible…

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Sunday poll gloom for Gordon (Updated 0315)

Sunday poll gloom for Gordon (Updated 0315)

ICM and YouGov report on the damage of the pension row Two polls by YouGov and ICM that will appear tomorrow in Rupert Murdoch’s Sunday papers, the News of the World and the Sunday Times show the damage to Gordon Brown’s reputation that the row over the 1997 pension changes has caused. Reports of what’s in the papers are just emerging but these seem to be the main highlights:- GB “Good or bad chancellor?” 52% of those surveyed by YouGov…

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Will the freeing of the captives give a boost to Blair?

Will the freeing of the captives give a boost to Blair?

Could Labour be helped in the May elections? What’s the domestic political impact going to be from this afternoon’s news about the Iranian decision to free the fifteen captured British service men and women? After a crisis that looked as though it could have gone on and on this afternoon’s developments must be bringing a huge sigh of relief to the government and Tony Blair. For their continued detention provided an ongoing reminder of the policy that got the Royal…

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Has Murdoch’s flagship paper abandoned Gordon?

Has Murdoch’s flagship paper abandoned Gordon?

The Times steps up the pressure on the pension row One of the aspects of media behaviour that is hurting Gordon this morning is that newspapers never like to under-exaggerate the impact of their own scoops. So the Times follows it revelations on Saturday about the Chancellor ignoring the advice of civil servants in 1997 about the so-called “£5bn pensions grab” with today’s front-page splash, reproduced here, on the possible impact of its actions on the Labour succession. And as…

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