Local By-Election Preview: July 18th 2013

Local By-Election Preview: July 18th 2013

  Connah’s Quay, Golftyn on Flintshire (Lab Defence) Last Local Elections (2012): Lab 31, Ind 23, Con 7, Lib Dem 7, Plaid 1 (No Overall Control, Lab short by 4) Ward Result: Lab 582 + 553 (75%), Ind 382 (25%) Flintshire (created out of the remains of Clwyd along with Denbighshire and Wrexham) has always been a strongly Labour area (even during the worse times for Labour). This was demonstrated at the 1983 general election when Alyn and Deeside (made…

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John Bercow’s replacement: Another betting market for mug punters

John Bercow’s replacement: Another betting market for mug punters

PaddyPower http://t.co/45A6m1KRSH open market on next Speaker Bercow is 50yo What if he stays till he's 70? pic.twitter.com/5uMPs3qmV5 — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) July 18, 2013 Who wants to lock their stake up for maybe 20 years? Mike Smithson For the latest polling and political betting news Follow @MSmithsonPB

The big picture is that Labour still has a majority winning lead and the Tories have yet to find the magic bullet

The big picture is that Labour still has a majority winning lead and the Tories have yet to find the magic bullet

Only EdM’s personal ratings should give LAB cause for concern It’s parliamentary recess time. The 2012-2013 political season is over only to return in early September and then into the conference season which for whatever reason kicks off a week earlier than usual. The final days have been accopmanied by a concentration of polling on a level that we usually only see at general election time. I’ve updated my current polling chart to feature all of them. The most signifcant…

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Night Hawks is now open

Night Hawks is now open

  Home of the web’s best political conversation In the summertime when the weather is high, why not relax, and converse into the night on the day’s events in PB NightHawks. If you’re a lurker,  why not Delurk tonight. The round up of recent events (click on the links below, and it will bring up the relevant link)   Why Miliband’s dismal approval ratings should worry Labour PMQs review: Cameron sends the Tories away happy as he triumphs over Miliband How…

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Dave might not have been so upbeat at PMQs if this Ipsos-MORI poll had come out two hours earlier

Dave might not have been so upbeat at PMQs if this Ipsos-MORI poll had come out two hours earlier

Chart from Ipsos-MORI showing today's poll with LAB lead up 7 to 11% pic.twitter.com/3NYnE3em7m — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) July 17, 2013 Last month it was CON 31, LAB 35, LD 10, UKIP 12 But the leader ratings see a big move to Dave Dave now doing better than Ed in the Ipsos-MORI leader satisfaction ratings pic.twitter.com/AFvjeMjhe4 — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) July 17, 2013 EdM's Ipsos-MORI satisfaction ratings now as bad as Hague at the same stage of his leadership pic.twitter.com/GTWuvIV2fn…

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British politics is perhaps more nuanced than Lynton Crosby thinks

British politics is perhaps more nuanced than Lynton Crosby thinks

Lynton Crosby – the Australian campaigning expert said to be behind the attacks on LAB over the NHS pic.twitter.com/SmOznwaHeP — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) July 16, 2013 Is his Oz template right for Britain? Whatever you might think of him the great contribution Oz campaigning “guru” Lynton Crosby has made to the current political scene has been to give the Tory party and particularly its MPs their confidence back. That is no mean feat. In recent weeks he is said to…

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Nighthawks is now open

Nighthawks is now open

  Home of the web’s best political conversation This Summer is very hot, why not relax, and converse into the night on the day’s events in PB NightHawks. If you’re a lurker,  why not Delurk tonight, Squeeze some time in your day to post on PB. The round up of recent events (click on the links below, and it will bring up the relevant story)   Peter Kellner of YouGov analyses that ICM Poll Whilst Martin Boon of ICM responds. …

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After this afternoon and last week’s PMQs there will be a lot of Bercow interventions tomorrow

After this afternoon and last week’s PMQs there will be a lot of Bercow interventions tomorrow

PaddyPower Bercow Betting Interventions at tomorrow's PMQs 5/6 0-2 5/6 -3+ which I'm on http://t.co/45A6m1KRSH pic.twitter.com/DvSXWu6qeq — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) July 16, 2013 Why I’m on at 3 or more with PaddyPower It’s hot a sticky at Westminster and the parliamentary recess is nearly upon us. This afternoon’s Commons NHS statement by Jeremy Hunt led to some of the most bad-tempered exchanges that we have seen in a long time. It’s hard to see how tomorrow’s PMQs is going to be much different….

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