PoliticsHome Would it have been different if other words had been used? There’s a poll finding out overnight which seems to suggest that voters have had enough with the media and Tory demands for Brown to say “sorry” for his past mistakes on the economy. Labour is taking great comfort in the survey and, indeed, Nick Palmer MP was posting here at 2am to alert us. But is the poll all it seems and is the simplified way the PH…
PB’s cartoonist is Marf of LondonSketchbook.com.
How much of a certainty is a Cameron majority? Columns by the Independent’s Steve Richards are not normally my first point of reference but in his piece for the paper today he makes a valid point – the pundits are being premature in regarding a Tory victory as almost a certainty. We saw it in a number of pieces at the weekend and clearly the terrible spate of January polls after what appeared to be a Labour recovery has had…
Will even loyalists waste time over such banalities? The above is reproduced from today’s pages on LabourList and reports on a new feature – a weekly bottle of champagne to the person writing the comment of the week. The prize is not a bad idea of itself and it should get a bit of interest – but just read this week’s winner. That’s hardly thought provoking stuff and if this is the best they’ve got then what does it say…
Are we being prepared for more revelations? Ever since the Sunday Times came out with its “££££ for laws” revelations last Sunday the paper has been acting as thought it had other material in the pipeline. First, it will be recalled, there was the sound recording of the conversation with one of the peers – that was released on Monday. Now, this afternoon, we have a video that was secretly shot of a second peer which is up on the…
Should Dave have been allowed openings like this? Michael Settle of the Glasgow-based Herald sets out the scene and the dangers for Brown of Erminegate in the story that’s currently the lead on Google News UK Search. “.IT is the most toxic word in the political lexicon and is threatening to make a comeback – sleaze. The alarm in No 10 over “Erminegate” – denied allegations that four Labour peers were ready to accept money in return for amending government…
How dangerous for Labour is the Harman plan? Perhaps the biggest political achievement of Tony Blair was his ability in the run up to the 1997 general election to transform his party into a political force that it was safe for the “middle classes” – epitomised by Daily Mail readers if you like – to vote for. And when on May 1st of that year the time came to vote millions who had never thought of supporting the party before…
Could Populus mark a change in the media narrative? There are two critical things about a poll – the actual voting intention numbers themselves and how it is reported in the media. It might be recalled that the final YouGov poll of 2008 showing C42-L35-LD14, numbers that are not that much different from today’s Populus poll in the Times, was barely covered by the paper that had spent a substantial sum on the survey. For at the time the media…