Andy Burnham should make sure this focus group from 2010 gets a wider audience

Andy Burnham should make sure this focus group from 2010 gets a wider audience

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Thanks to Danny565 for posting this video on last night’s thread, it is a clip from a Newsnight focus group from 2010 of twelve voters from Bristol who didn’t vote Labour in 2010, about the then Labour Leadership election which eventually saw Ed Milband win. Each of the five candidates had a three minute speech then a Question and Answer session with the voters, after all had been on, the voters were asked to give their verdict, of the twelve,…

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Is this the Old Etonian you should be backing as next Tory leader?

Is this the Old Etonian you should be backing as next Tory leader?

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Can Zac do what Boris has done and become the favourite to be the next Tory leader? One of the main challenges for the Tory Party at the next election is holding on to all those voters dubbed the Blue Liberals in the marginals and the previously Lib Dem held seats which are now Tory seats. Without David Cameron, that challenge becomes harder, but who best to appeal to those voters? Zac Goldsmith could, he’s well known for his environmental policies,…

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Meanwhile in the LAB leadership battle Andy Burnham sends a text to party members

Meanwhile in the LAB leadership battle Andy Burnham sends a text to party members

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Everyone in politics says you should try to give a straight answer to a straight question. pic.twitter.com/etngSF46N4 — Hopi Sen (@hopisen) June 13, 2015 He needs to word his messages better than this As Lynton Crosby always says – message matters most and we saw the success of that in the final weeks of the GE15 campaign. So it’s against this that we should judge the 3 or 4 still in the race for the Labour leadership. The Labour blogger…

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David Herdson says the government should call the SNP’s bluff on full fiscal autonomy

David Herdson says the government should call the SNP’s bluff on full fiscal autonomy

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It’s time to slay Holyrood’s bogeyman The referendum was never going to be the end of the story and neither was the declaration of the unionist parties to implement the recommendations of the Smith commission. The closeness of the vote last September and the unprecedented landslide this May have understandably prompted the SNP to demand a lot more. It would be foolhardy for Westminster to refuse. The amendment that the SNP have put down is quite smart, not demanding a…

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Meanwhile in that other party leadership contest…Stodge on the Lib Dem race

Meanwhile in that other party leadership contest…Stodge on the Lib Dem race

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Norman Lamb or Tim Farron? Next Wednesday I’m intending to attend the Hustings for the Liberal Democrat leadership election in London. As in 2007, I go to the event undecided between the two candidates and will listen with interest to what they have to say and how they see the future of the Party. Paddy Power currently have Tim Farron at 1/10 with Norman Lamb at 5/1 and while for many the choice of Liberal Democrat leader may be as…

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Why Labour needs to be as ruthless with failing leaders as the Tories

Why Labour needs to be as ruthless with failing leaders as the Tories

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The latest from PB Guest slot writer – Don Brind It’s Thursday morning in Downing Street: The door to number 10 opens and the manager of the press office is striding down the road with a folder under his arm. I’m there as a BBC political producer and I know him well. I catch him up and with a little bit of persuasion I get my hands of the press release he’s taking to the Press gallery in the House…

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Local By-Election Preview including the big election in Tower Hamlets

Local By-Election Preview including the big election in Tower Hamlets

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Wallington South on Sutton (Lib Dem defence) Result of council at last election (2014): Liberal Democrats 45, Conservatives 9 (Liberal Democrat majority of 36) Result of ward at last election (2014) : Emboldened denotes elected Liberal Democrats: 1,593, 1,558, 1,221 (37%) Conservatives: 825, 649, 571 (19%) United Kingdom Independence Party: 694 (16%) Keep Our St. Helier Hospital Party: 377 (9%) Labour: 374, 358, 283 (9%) Green Party: 301, 274 (7%) English Democrats: 110 (3%) Candidates duly nominated: Andy Beadle (UKIP),…

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We are more than six months away from the primaries yet the betting suggests that WH16 is almost all settled

We are more than six months away from the primaries yet the betting suggests that WH16 is almost all settled

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Another Clinton-Bush encounter? Maybe. Maybe not With all the focus on the British general election and its aftermath we’ve tended to ignore what’s set to be massive political betting event – the 2016 White House race. What I like about them is the whole series of events and elections that lead to the first Tuesday in November when the voters actually decide. With Barack Obama due to step down we have serious battles in prospect for both the Democratic party…

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