A run-down of possible contenders Ed Miliband’s latest PMQs performance will do nothing to stop the murmuring within the party against him and Ladbrokes have him at just 2/1 that he’ll go before the general election. But if he was to step aside voluntarily then who would take over. These are my comments on those priced at 25/1 or shorter in the betting. Possible Odds Comment David Miliband 5/1 He had his chance last autumn and his current absence from…
Surely Ed should be nailing the PM on these? Those who watched the Daily Politics programme ahead of today’s PMQs will have seen the feature and discussion on government policy U-turns. From forests to free milk for children and today the NHS and the planned penal changes the list is getting quite long. The way this was presented in the programme showed the scale of the case that can be made against the Prime minister. The Tory minister, Grant Shapps,…
Huhne eases while Landley & Clarke tighten in the exit betting After a fair down-beat PMQs with Ed Miliband looking as though he desperately needs something to boost his confidence there’s been the first movement since last week in the cabinet exit betting prices. The big thing with Huhne is whether he’s going to be prosecuted or not and, hopefully, we should know that relatively soon. If he is then his chances of survival will be much reduced. His price…
Should it be a great PMQ opportunity for the Labour leader? There’s just about nothing that leaders’ of the opposition like more than what appears to be a U-turn in government policy, particularly when that has, apparently, been driven by the PM over-ruling, in effect, one of his cabinet. Today there is PMQs and the NHS changes and the position of Andrew Lansley will surely be part of EdM’s planned line of questioning. On top of that there are the…
Is he going to be able to stay in the job? With Cameron making his big speech setting out what appear to be major changes to the NHS reform plan the focus will now be on the health secretary, Andrew Lansley. There’s have been hints in recent weeks that there might a possible resignation if his reforms were altered too much. Only a week and a half ago the usually well-informed Matthew D’Ancona was writing in the Sunday Telegraph… ..”Number…
PoliticsHome Is that why there’s so much continuing mis-trust? There’s a big report out today produced by the newly established YouGov Cambridge and PoliticHome. You can see see Mark Gettleson’s full document here. What strikes me is the gap between the modest overall support for many of the Lansley proposals and the continuing perceptions about the Tory party and the NHS. This is how Gettleson sums it up:- The key explanation however is around the fact voters still don’t trust…
Are boundaries set to be the hot topic this autumn? Early in September the Welsh boundary commissioners will kick of with what’s looks set to be the main topic for politicians, if not the voters, this autumn, the new seat boundaries. The first draft proposals for the 2015 political map of the UK will come from Cardiff to be followed in the week of September 12th by those for England. Scottish MPs are going to have to wait a bit…
Source FT How can EdM improve the party’s income? Thanks to Jim Packard and Elizabeth Rigby in the FT for spotting this – but according to the latest party fundraising data from the Electoral Commission for the six months to March 31st the Lib Dems are out-fundraising Labour by three to one from individual and corporate donors. They note that the biggest source of money to Labour is the tax-payer (£5.7m) and the unions (£4.6m). What does this say about…