politicalbetting.com

Would it be better for Miliband if he was? Back in 2004 Labour’s electoral genius, Tony Blair, took a massive gamble to ensure that his party would win at least one big prize at that year’s local elections. Ken Livingstone, who had first won the London mayoralty four years earlier as an independent, was controversially brought back into the party to be LAB candidate for Mayor. Nikki Gavron, who had been fairly and squarely selected as candidate months earlier, was…

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Google elections Romney is heading for the nomination – at $17.14 a vote – My latest at Telegraph Blogs soc.li/4KtIjEP — Mike Smithson (@MikeSmithsonOGH) March 11, 2012

The Sun Is she still worth an 11/4 bet? Rupert Murdoch is obviously pretty proud of the move to bring in Yvette Cooper in the new Sunday edition of his paper. This was a Tweet from last night:- Sun on Sunday improving every week.See tomorrow’s article by Yvette Cooper.Should stir the pot!Another big paper for 50p. — Rupert Murdoch(@rupertmurdoch) March 10, 2012 Clearly this is going to heighten public awareness of the shadow home secretary who is the strong favourite…

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Why PB takes political advertising The poster Lapsis on the previous thread raised the issue of why anti-Ken adverts are appearing on the site. The answer that I don’t personally approve of the advertising which is handled by MessageSpace. I do set down general policies. One of those is that we accept political ads from all quarters and, indeed, all the main parties and some trade unions have advertised here at one stage or another. PB costs money to keep…

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Nick Clegg wins first health bill battle – Lib Dems vote to debate Williams health motion, not rebel one – bit.ly/ypXdE4 — AndrewSparrow (@AndrewSparrow) March 10, 2012 But is it the right decision for the party? Within the last half hour the results of a ballot at the LD spring conference in Gateshead have been announced and represent a victory for the party establishment over many activists. Delegates were asked to choose between four possible emergency motions on the Lansley…

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Is there a need for a realignment north of the border Last year’s Holyrood election result was the sort of political earthquake that occurs at most once in a generation. The sweeping gains the SNP made not only cemented their place as one of the two Scottish government-forming parties but brought into question the role of the other three main parties. Having entered government, and particularly having been re-elected with an overall majority, the SNP now has two horses to…

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April 19th 6.30pm Dirty Dicks An early warning. Thanks to Fat Steve once again for arranging the next PB gathering at the Dirty Dicks public house just across the road from Liverpool Street station in London. Same arrangements as before and there’s no need to book. Just come along and meet and chat to other PBers over a pint or a Pinot Noir. @MikeSmithsonOGH

What happens if conference wants the NHS bill scrapped? Ahead of what could be a tough weekend for the Lib Dem leadership Nick Clegg will tell his party’s spring conference to “move on” from tuition fees and the NHS bill. Last year the conference passed resolutions which shaped the approach of the party to the Andrew Lansley’s “modernisation” programme. This year there’s a call for the bill to be abandoned completely. Unlike the LAB and CON conferences which abandoned any…

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