Lynton Crosby could do it again next week and give the Tories outright power on a third of the vote

Lynton Crosby could do it again next week and give the Tories outright power on a third of the vote

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Or will the “good guys” win this time? Canadians go to the polls next week in an election that has echoes of the British General Election in May – the most intriguing being the involvement of Lynton Crosby. Prime Minister Stephen Harper hopes the Australian can repeat what he did for David Cameron — magic an outright victory in an election where the Tory poll numbers have been limping along in the low thirties. That was how the final polls…

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Antifrank: How the Conservatives will lose their hegemony

Antifrank: How the Conservatives will lose their hegemony

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In 1897, the British Empire was at its zenith.  “The sun never sets on the British Empire” was a literal truth.  It was the world’s dominant military power and gloried in its success as leader of the industrial revolution.  Its puissance seemed unchallengeable.  It was against that background that Rudyard Kipling composed a poem for Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee.  This is its penultimate verse: “If, drunk with sight of power, we loose, Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,…

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So in the end just 21 LAB MPs abstained

So in the end just 21 LAB MPs abstained

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ITV on tonight's big Commons vote http://t.co/MnrGtdM8LI pic.twitter.com/fGS710uneU — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) October 14, 2015 For sake of completeness, here's Lab MPs who didn't vote but who had prior commitments (not inc watching Apprentice) pic.twitter.com/W8meNOWEOR — Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) October 14, 2015

JC getting better at PMQs but still work in progress

JC getting better at PMQs but still work in progress

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I was quite impressed with Corbyn at only his second PMQs. He came better prepared than his first outing and he had some good put downs for both Cameron and heckling CON back benchers. He’s stuck with his raising what people have emailed him about which I sense that Cameron found a little irritating. But why didn’t he raise what has been the government’s main embarrassment this week – the ministerial split and later u-turn on the Saudi prison contract?After…

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Hillary bounces back in the Democratic nomination betting after an assured performance in first debate

Hillary bounces back in the Democratic nomination betting after an assured performance in first debate

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How the US Politco site is reporting Hillary's performance in 1st debate http://t.co/9LXvKcsV8z pic.twitter.com/dnXLBQzdoa — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) October 14, 2015 She’s now back as a 74% chance on Betfair Overnight in Las Vagas there’s been the first TV debate of the Democratic primary. This was all about Hillary and how well she’d perform after a period of declining poll ratings and the rise of Bernie Sanders now with substantial leads in New Hampshire. The big news is that she came…

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Date for your diary: Next PB gathering October 29th 2015 – Shooting Star pub close to Liverpool Street Station

Date for your diary: Next PB gathering October 29th 2015 – Shooting Star pub close to Liverpool Street Station

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We’ve got a lot to catch up on The last PB gathering in London took place in March while EdM was odds on favourite to be the next PM, UKIP appeared to be heading for at least half a dozen seats, the LDs had 56 MPs, the SNP had just six Scottish seats and issues like whether the Honourable Jeremy Corbyn would kneel before the Queen were beyond anybody’s imagination. Since then an enormous amount has happened. Like last time…

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Ministers U-turn over the Saudi prison deal following an unlikely alliance of Michael Gove and Jeremy Corbyn

Ministers U-turn over the Saudi prison deal following an unlikely alliance of Michael Gove and Jeremy Corbyn

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Gove & Corbyn unusual allies on cancelling Saudi prisons deal; MoJ objections overruled by FCO & No 10 (The Times) https://t.co/GyZ8hd5YkR — Sunder Katwala (@sundersays) October 12, 2015 And he has. Corbyn: "Cameron has been shamed into a u-turn on this terrible contract, but why was it set up in the first place?" — George Eaton (@georgeeaton) October 13, 2015 https://twitter.com/chrisbrooke/status/653913921078829056

The worry for LAB is that last night’s PLP could be a foretaste of the next four and a half years

The worry for LAB is that last night’s PLP could be a foretaste of the next four and a half years

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George Eaton's excellent report on last night's PLP meeting http://t.co/rtSBYLSWt1 pic.twitter.com/KW26XVZx47 — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) October 13, 2015 https://twitter.com/chrishanretty/status/653791847559462912 This is what happens when a leader has so little support from his MPs By all accounts last night’s meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party was one of the most fractious and bad tempered in living memory. The division between the leadership and the rest couldn’t be greater. The problem, of course, is that Jeremy Corbyn is the second leader in…

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