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Is this the first sign that Tories are taking charge?

Is this the first sign that Tories are taking charge?

What’s the political impact of power seeping away from Labour One of the greatest weapons in the armoury of any government is that it has power. It can use it to influence the media agenda and, of course, to further its political position. But is that starting to change with the growing realisation that is is not as strong as it was? In a Times comment this morning Sam Coates makes this acute observation: “The Mayor of London’s decision to…

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Is Brown’s lack of vocabulary the reason he’ll lose?

Is Brown’s lack of vocabulary the reason he’ll lose?

Click on panel to watch Why doesn’t he try to make what he says interesting? On the thread last night James A posted a link to one of Brown’s hurriedly arranged interviews yesterday and raised the issue of the PM’s lack of variation in the words that he uses. Just click on the panel and watch it for 90 seconds and you’ll hear him saying the same thing using the same few words time and time again. There’s no recognition…

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Was Purnell’s speech too good for his own good?

Was Purnell’s speech too good for his own good?

Is this the man the Gord Gang is most worried about? Whenever party leaders are changed, it appears, the main selection criteria, it would appear, is for someone with the qualities that the outgoing person appears to lack. Look at Blair to Brown or Ming to Nick Clegg to get the general idea. And of the limited array of talent on parade at the Labour conference last week the potential leader who appeared to do best with his speech was…

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Is the issue now “Downing Street Dysfunctionality”?

Is the issue now “Downing Street Dysfunctionality”?

How dangerous is such a widespread media perception? Two days the Labour conference in Manchester and time for more reflection and analysis of what is right and what is wrong with the party as its leader he seeks to hold onto office. There’s one term that features in much of the coverage which is highly damaging to Brown – “Downing Street Dysfunctionality”. This is said to have embodied in the farcical circumstances surrounding the 3am press conference in a hotel…

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Good conference – bad conference?

Good conference – bad conference?

What’s the leadership fallout from Manchester? Gordon Brown – better conference than might have been expected. Speech OK with party activists and might expect a poll boost. Looks like he’ll survive at least until the 2009 local and Euro elections. Good conference. Harriet Harman – will have upset Tory supporters with the personal nature of her attacks on Cameron but went down well with the delegates. She’s still there and she owes her position a contested election of the whole…

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Will Kelly take the gloss off Gord’s big speech?

Will Kelly take the gloss off Gord’s big speech?

Has her timing been designed to deliberately damage the PM? Less than fourteen hours after Gordon sat down at the end of his big conference speech in Manchester there’s a report this morning from Sky News that Ruth Kelly, the former Education secretary and now Transport minister, is to quit. Only two days ago we carried a story here about an Independent survey where Kelly was named as only one of four cabinet ministers not prepared to answer the question…

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Will this afternoon’s speech change any of these minds?

Will this afternoon’s speech change any of these minds?

Click on the panel to watch Have even Labour-leaners just given up on Brown? The picture above is the final screen-shot form the three-part Frank Luntz Newsnight focus group in Manchester which was shown last night. It shows how those involved responded when Luntz asked those who had just “given up on Gordon” to raise their hands. I didn’t do a count but it appeared that about four-fifths of the participants indicated their agreement – and that in a nutshell…

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Will they be clapping like this tomorrow?

Will they be clapping like this tomorrow?

Will Gord’s ovation be longer than IDS’s in 2003? After the speculation here on the site a week ago Ladbrokes have a market on the length of the standing ovation for Gordon Brown at the end of his speech tomorrow morning. The big question is whether Gord can outdo Iain Duncan Smith – the last main party leader who faced a conference with so many questions about his leadership. On October 9th 2003 the applause at the Tory conference went…

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