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Category: Tories

Clarke drops behind Cameron on the Betfair exchange

Clarke drops behind Cameron on the Betfair exchange

After a morning of relatively heavy activity on the betting markets the ex-Etonian, David Cameron, has now moved into second favourite position on Betfair. At the time of this post he was on was at 4/1 compared with the 4.6/1 available on Ken Clarke. Whether this will be sustained after Ken Clarke’s speech this afternoon we will have to wait and see but Cameron continues to get serious attention from the punters. David Davis, meanwhile, has moved a little bit…

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The Betting Markets give Day One to Cameron

The Betting Markets give Day One to Cameron

Could we be heading for a Davis-Cameron final? The first day “winner” of the Tory Party conference according to the way the betting has moved is indisputably the Shadow Education Secretary, David Cameron. While all the other contenders have seen their prices ease or stay the same only Cameron has seen a sharp tightening. Although Ken Clarke is still second in the betting behind David Davis the former Chancellor’s price has eased while Cameron’s has seen a very sharp movement…

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First on stage…Sir Malcolm Rifkind

First on stage…Sir Malcolm Rifkind

Can the former Foreign Secretary make the speech his life? May is a long time ago and it’s probably been forgotten that in the early phases of this seemingly never-ending contest Sir Malcom Rifkind was joint second favourite at just 9/1. But it was always going to be hard for the Foreign Secretary in the last Tory Government who lost his seat in 1997. It took him eight years to get back to Westminster and on his return he faced…

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How do YOU rate the Tory contenders?

How do YOU rate the Tory contenders?

…… Take part in the PB.C survey With the Tory leadership election about to start in earnest at the Party Conference in Blackpool how do PB.C’s users rate the top four candidates in the betting on four key attributes? It is important that you give your ratings on how you think Tory members will assess Cameron/Clarke/Davis/Fox in each area – irrespective of your own political allegiances. The aim is to determine the collective judgement of the PB.C community. Please use…

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Meet the man who claims he toppled Blunkett

Meet the man who claims he toppled Blunkett

Is David Davis really the man gamblers should thank? One of the great bets at the end of last year was the 7/2 you could get against David Blunkett not surviving until the end of December in all the furore over the Kimberely Quinn paternity case. Blunkett was of course Home Secretary and David Davis was his Tory shadow. Until yesterday’s formal launch of the David Davis campaign for the Tory leadership not everybody, we guess, fully realised the part…

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Why my money’s on Ken

Why my money’s on Ken

How PB.C’s Tories swayed my betting In the immediate aftermath of the French refendum in May rejecting the EU constitution I put a big spread bet on Ken Clarke for the Tory leadership because it appeared that the issue that distanced him from the bulk of his party had been kicked into touch. No UK referendum meant that he was not going to be put on the spot in the run-up to a similar UK vote. From my non-Tory standpoint…

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The uncertainty continues for Davis and Brown

The uncertainty continues for Davis and Brown

… Does yesterday make the Gordon-David show a touch less likely? After the events of this week the one almost sure thing that you can predict about the next General Election is that Oxford University’s stranglehold on UK politics will be broken. For the first time since Stanley Baldwin in 1935 an election looks set to be won by someone who was educated at a University other than Oxford. The only exceptions in the past 70 years, Churchill and Major,…

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The ball’s back in Blair’s court

The ball’s back in Blair’s court

Labour’s ping-pong continues as the PM’s aides say Brown is being “presumptuous” On what will surely be the biggest day in British politics since the General Election Tony Blair is making his big conference speech in Brighton and the Tories will announce the result of their ballot on how Michael Howard’s replacement will be chosen. In the immediate aftermath of Gordon Brown’s speech yesterday all seemed clear – the Chancellor was giving the Prime Minster the accolades and was using…

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