Should you bet on Rupert Murdoch’s choice for President?

Should you bet on Rupert Murdoch’s choice for President?

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Betfair Politics Chris Christie moves sharply into the GOP betting With time getting very tight for new contenders to enter the race to be the Republican party’s nominee for next year’s White House there’s been a rush of punters trying to get on Chris Christie – the heavyweight governor of New Jersey’s who’s become the favoured choice of the party establishment. The New York Times reports that “….Those pushing Mr. Christie to run include the media mogul Rupert Murdoch, former…

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Miliband’s net ratings tumble 15 points

Miliband’s net ratings tumble 15 points

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Why such a sharp drop in just two days? The weekly YouGov leadership ratings are out behind the paywall at the Sunday Times and show a sharp drop on polling earlier in the week. Today’s numbers have 28% saying he’s doing his job as Labour leader “well” compared with 60% who say he’s doing it badly. That makes a net minus of 32 points, just one point off his worst figure ever in June. David Cameron, meanwhile, is on 43%…

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Have the defence cuts shot Liam’s Fox?

Have the defence cuts shot Liam’s Fox?

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Will he ever again lead the Tory right? One saving grace for Ed Miliband’s leadership prospects is the lack of any obviously better alternative. Strangely enough, both other party leaders are in much the same position. Clegg’s ratings remain poor though may now have turned the corner but any potential replacement is at least as compromised by policy and / or personal matters. Cameron too has remarkably little to worry about in terms of possible rivals for his job. Osborne…

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..and so into the weekend in the PB Nighthawks Cafe..

..and so into the weekend in the PB Nighthawks Cafe..

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We are now two thirds the way through conference season – only the Tory one to go and then normal politics resumes. Before this conference season started I thought that the Lib Dem one would be the most interesting and the Labour one the least. How wrong I was. Last week in Birmingham it was a bit boring and the roastings that were predicted for Nick Clegg didn’t happen. Labour in Liverpool has been extraordinary with people continuing to talk…

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What’s Harriet done for future leadership contests?

What’s Harriet done for future leadership contests?

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How will the 1+ woman rule work in practice? One of the more significant events to have taken place at Labour’s recent conference was its adoption of the Refounding Labour proposals. Amongst these were the scrapping of Shadow Cabinet elections and the introduction of a rule that at least one of Labour’s leader and deputy must be a woman, championed by its current deputy, Harriet Harman. I’ve not been able to find the precise wording of how this would actually…

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Could a fat man ever be elected President?

Could a fat man ever be elected President?

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What are Christie’s chances if he decides to run? Over the past week or so the big buzz in the fight for the Republican nomination is whether Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey, will enter the race. Senior figures in the party have been pressing him to put his hat into the ring because they believe that a moderate conservative with a good record would have a better chance of beating Obama than the current front-runner, Mitt Romney, or last…

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Tonight in the PB Nighthawks Cafe…

Tonight in the PB Nighthawks Cafe…

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I’ve had quite a busy day betting. My respect for HenryG is such that I thought it was worth wagering a fair bit on his core proposition that EdM is not going to survive and that Yvette Cooper is best placed to win a new leadership election. I got on her at 4/1 which seems like a good price. I also got more on at 11/4 that EdM will step down as leader before the general election. Tonight’s YouGov daily…

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