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Category: Labour

Do these numbers smash the Number 10 fantasy?

Do these numbers smash the Number 10 fantasy?

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UKPollingReport “Government’s always recover” – eh? There is a notion which seems to be deeply ingrained in the minds of many pundits and Labour figures that there is some immutable law of polling that says that Governments always recover by election day. This is summed up by the following from Martin Bright in the Spectator tomorrow:- He notes that in Downing Street “…a rather desperate numbers game is being played. It starts with an assumption that the Labour vote has…

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And this was after Brown’s “good week”!

And this was after Brown’s “good week”!

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CON 39%(40) LAB 25%(27) LD 17%(18) OTHERS 19% (15) [LAB/CON 64.1% (67.5)] Another week goes by and two more polls come out which will add to the discomfort at Number 10. The first from Comres is above has the Tories slipping a point to below 40, Labour slipping two points to 25 with “others” seeing a massive boost to 19% – which is the biggest proportion in any survey since the EU election effect had worked its way out of…

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What does Glasgow NE say about Labour’s Scottish chances?

What does Glasgow NE say about Labour’s Scottish chances?

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How many losses do we expect them to suffer? At the General Election on May 5th 2005 Labour won 40 of the 59 seats north of the border on just 38.9% of the vote. No wonder that Blair “forgot” about his 1997 manifesto commitment on electoral reform. Since the election they lost Dunfermline to the Lib Dems in 2006 and Glasgow East to the SNP in 2008. This was partly balanced by the “gain” overnight of the Speaker’s seat. So…

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Will this 2001 idea stop the Tory surge?

Will this 2001 idea stop the Tory surge?

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What do we think of Labour’s new ad? The Daily Mirror is reporting that the above is the latest from the Labour campaign team designed to impede the Tories. If you get a sense that you’ve seen something like this before then you have. Take something current from the world of show-biz and then create parodies based on leading opposition figures. Thus compare the idea with this campaign poster from 2001:- If worked, of course, the election before last but…

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Does the Daily Mirror still have much influence?

Does the Daily Mirror still have much influence?

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Daily Mirror October 10th 1974 – Wikimedia Commons Can it get more votes out for Brown’s party? When I started my journalistic career in 1968 the paper ambitious young graduates aspired to work for was the Mirror. It had a circulation topping four million and until the arrival of Murdoch’s Sun was the biggest selling paper in the UK. It had built up a great reputation for covering serious serious stories in a popular manner and certainly had a big…

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Is this a man who could cross sides?

Is this a man who could cross sides?

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Guardian What would be the impact of a defection? One of the early signs of what was to come from Brown Central was the ferocious campaign to undermine and eventually secure the sacking of Frank Field at the start of the Labour government. He had been brought in by Blair to “think the unthinkable” about welfare reform until the Brownies got there way. This is recounted at length in Tom Bower’s brilliant biography on Brown and the man who is…

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Another news cycle and the row goes on?

Another news cycle and the row goes on?

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The Sun What does this say about Brown’s survival chances? The big overnight political betting story is the news that David Miliband won’t be going for the EU High Representative job – and all the speculation that this opens up not only about that appointment but the whole Labour leadership. Congratulations to Peter the Punter, Morus and others for picking up developments ahead of MSM and to Morus (Greg Callus), in particular, for his tip at 9.20pm on who might…

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Is Number 10 making the letter row worse?

Is Number 10 making the letter row worse?

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Should Mandy have avoided the attack on the Sun? Paul Waugh makes a valid point on his Evening Standard blog that the way Number 10 is dealing with the letter of condolence issue could be causing more damage. He writes: “We now have not just Peter Mandelson, but also housing minister Ian Austin claiming that this is all about The Sun’s decision to back the Tories.. First, the Prince of Darkness said that the tabloid’s story had to be seen…

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