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Category: Lib Dems

On Vince’s big day he’s 2/1 favourite to leave first

On Vince’s big day he’s 2/1 favourite to leave first

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First cabinet member to leave Party Price Vince Cable Lib Dem 2/1 William Hague Conservative 4/1 Liam Fox Conservative 5/1 Chris Huhne Lib Dem 8/1 Iain Duncan Smith Conservative 8/1 Theresa May Conservative 14/1 Michael Gove Conservative 16/1 Andrew Lansley Conservative 16/1 Michael Moore Lib Dem 20/1 Andrew Mitchell Conservative 20/1 Nick Clegg Lib Dem 20/1 Owen Paterson Conservative 25/1 Danny Alexander Lib Dem 25/1 Jeremy Hunt Conservative 25/1 Kenneth Clarke Conservative 25/1 Eric Pickles Conservative 25/1 Caroline Spelman Conservative…

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Is the Boles plan the fox that can Clegg shoot?

Is the Boles plan the fox that can Clegg shoot?

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Was it designed to make Nick’s conference easier? What’s likely to produce the loudest applause during Nick Clegg’s big speech this afternoon will be when he makes clear that the coalition deal is for one parliament only and that there will be no pact with the Tories at the next election. For the prospect that something might just be on the agenda has been simmering since last Monday following the publication of a book in which the idea is floated…

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Do Clegg’s problems derive from this – 30 years ago?

Do Clegg’s problems derive from this – 30 years ago?

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BBC What does he do about the 1981 LAB>SDP defectors? Whenever there are problems within the Lib Dem side of the coalition then invariably the names that crop up are Bob Russell, the Colchester MP, and Mike Hancock of Portsmouth South. For these two alongside Business Secretary, Vince Cable, have several things in common notably that they are all in their mid-60s and they were all active Labour politicians who in 1981/82 defected to the new Social Democratic Party –…

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So should Dave call Boris’s 800m pound bluff?

So should Dave call Boris’s 800m pound bluff?

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Guardian Who’ll win the old-Etonian stand-off over Cross-Rail? The big development over Boris that Morus only touched on briefly in the last post was the huge row that’s apparently developing between Johnson (Eton and Balliol College Oxford) and Cameron (Eton and Brasenose College Oxford) over plans by Osborne (St. Paul’s and Magdalen College Oxford) to force a 5% cut to the £16bn London CrossRail project. According to the Guardian, though denied by the Mayor’s office, Johnson has let it be…

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Is Labour getting it wrong on the Lib Dems?

Is Labour getting it wrong on the Lib Dems?

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Guardian Should the red team look at its own recent history? One of the most provocative political columns this morning is John Harris’s look at Labour’s view of the Lib Dems by in the Guardian. He concludes:”… Miserable poll ratings may serve to bind the Lib Dems in, for fear of another election and a real calamity. And one other thing: never forget their deep, burning and often understandable hatred of the Blair and Brown governments – which, given the…

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Is the Justice Secretary Nick Clegg’s secret weapon?

Is the Justice Secretary Nick Clegg’s secret weapon?

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Guardian Has Clarke become the Lib Dems’ most popular Tory? On the afternoon of Monday September 20th Nick Clegg will have to make the speech of his life to his party gathering in Liverpool in what looks set to be THE event of the conference season. For the reaction of his audience could determine how long the coalition can survive and with it his own future. The stakes are high and Clegg has to be able to demonstrate that his…

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Does the ‘No’ campaign have the edge?

Does the ‘No’ campaign have the edge?

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Tom Harris blog Who will win the AV referendum? News broke overnight that Matthew Elliott, founder of the Taxpayers’ Alliance and BigBrotherWatch, will be leading the ‘No 2 AV’ campaign in the forthcoming referendum on electoral reform. Guido has linked to the a betting exchange suggesting a ‘Yes’ win at time of writing. However, if you wander over to Ladbrokes, you’ll find the ‘No’ priced at 2/5 and the ‘Yes’ at 7/4 (again at time of writing). Now it doesn’t take…

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Is Jackie Ashley right to chastise her party?

Is Jackie Ashley right to chastise her party?

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Guardian Could Labour be wrong by “playing nasty”? One of most provocative “Monday columns” in the the papers this morning is from Jacky Ashley in the Guardian in which she takes Labour to task for not reading reading the public mood right. She argues: “Labour is playing bad politics. The leadership campaign is turning into a tin-ear, foot-in-mouth competition about who can be nastiest to the Liberal Democrats. As candidates desperately try to prove themselves more true Labour, more tribal…

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