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Category: Lib Dems

How big’s the Tory challenge in Lib Dem bastions?

How big’s the Tory challenge in Lib Dem bastions?

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ConservativeHome A view from a Top Tory analyst There’s an interesting analysis of the May 5th local election result by Rob Hayward on ConHome part of which focuses on the Lib Dem seats which the Tories would hope to take given current polling. “…Nothing in politics is ever perfect nor consistent and the LDs showed remarkable resilience in a number of places probably in the form of incumbency. Where there was a sitting LD MP or Mayor they generally performed…

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Should the Huhne survival winners have another bet?

Should the Huhne survival winners have another bet?

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Will he still be in the cabinet by the party conference? Those who bet that the resilient Lib Dem energy secretary would still be in the cabinet by the end of May have ended up as winners and Ladbrokes have been very prompt in paying out. The firm has now opened a follow-up market with the operative date being the start of the Lib Dem conference on September 17th. That’s quite a long way off and the whole business of…

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Will Michael Crick emerge as the punters’ hero?

Will Michael Crick emerge as the punters’ hero?

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Is Huhne going to “be toast” or not? The first big Chris Huhne market, whether the LD energy secretary will still have his cabinet place by the end of the month, will be resolved at midnight and unless there’s something dramatic during the day it’s hard now to see those who gambled that he’d be out winning. On top of that there’s been the betting on which minster will be next out of the cabinet which has fluctuated harply. A…

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Which Huhne punters are going to end up winners?

Which Huhne punters are going to end up winners?

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Will he really be out of the cabinet by Tuesday? For the fourth weekend in succession it looks as though the Lib Dem energy secretary, Chris Huhne, is going to figure prominently in the Sunday papers. The business with speeding point allegations has prompted a lot of coverage and we seem to have a pattern – what’s predicted on some websites never quite lives up to the billing when the papers arrive. For punters there’s been a lively betting on…

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Where does the Huhne story go from here?

Where does the Huhne story go from here?

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BBC News And Cameron backs his energy secretary The Lib Dem energy secretary, Chris Huhne, has done a BBC interview in which he states categorically that the allegations he asked someone else to take his penalty points for a 2003 speeding offence are “simply incorrect”. No doubt there’ll be a lot of reading between the lines of his statement but it’s hard to see where the story goes from here without any evidence. Ladbrokes report that the money this morning…

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Did the Lib Dems make the wrong call going for AV?

Did the Lib Dems make the wrong call going for AV?

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Should they have pushed for House of Lords reform instead? The comprehensive defeat for the Yes2AV campaign has caused much questioning from those who proposed the change: how could the campaign have been better fought? Was it on the wrong day? Was it too narrow in scope? How could the assertions from No have been better rebutted? – and so on. One question that does not seem to have been asked is the most fundamental of all: was it the…

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Did Cameron help the LDs with this rare victory?

Did Cameron help the LDs with this rare victory?

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Did the PM’s campaigning encourage anti-Tory tactical voting? There were several requests yesterday for me to do something on why the mayoral election result in Bedford borough bucked the national trend. A bit of history: The Tories should have won this in a by-election in 2009 when their failure was put down to an “open primary” which produced a candidate from the Asian communities leading to huge rows and splits in the local party. This time the selection was restricted…

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Would Lamb be the “Stop Huhne” contender?

Would Lamb be the “Stop Huhne” contender?

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Is he worth a 14/1 bet? I’ve been getting a number of requests for my view on whether Clegg will survive a disastrous series of results on Thursday and whether Huhne, Farron or AN Other would be the likely successor. I believe that Clegg has an extraordinary level of resilience and if he wants to carry on then he will do so – any observations I make here on the leadership have to be seen in that context. A key…

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