Will it be Wobbly April every year?

Will it be Wobbly April every year?

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How possible is coalition government with elections on? It all seemed so easy last May. Two parties having come together to agree a coalition document over little more than a weekend, leaders joking in the garden of Number Ten and ministers sitting happily around the cabinet table. It looks a different ball game now. Disagreements between members of the two coalition parties have been more frequent and more public in the last month than at any time so far this…

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Marf on Dave’s immigration speech

Marf on Dave’s immigration speech

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Marf currently has an exhibition entitled “City Blues” at the Guildhall Gallery in the City of London – see this review in today’s Independent. On Monday afternoon from about 4pm Marf will be at the gallery ahead of the PB party at the Dirty Dicks public house that evening from 6pm. All PBers, whether lurkers or commenters are welcome to join us then and see many of her cartoons that first appeared on PB. The gallery is only about ten…

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Exactly a year ago today – when politics changed forever

Exactly a year ago today – when politics changed forever

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Without the debates could Labour have hung on? Today is the first anniversary of an event that was to have a profound impact on the 2010 general election and which probably changed British politics forever – the first of the three leaders’ TV debates. It was staged at the Granada studios in Manchester and I was fortunate to have been there – taking part in the post-debate discussion on ITV with Jonathan Dimbleby. We all know the story of what…

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Will UKIP break through in the locals?

Will UKIP break through in the locals?

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Rob Ford looks at the possibilities In a recent post, Mike noted that the Conservatives may be pushing the immigration issue to defend themselves from defections to UKIP. We agree that UKIP pose a real threat to the established parties at this year’s local polls, but UKIP supporters are not merely grumpy old Tory right wingers. In a recent study with Matthew Goodwin (Nottingham) and David Cutts (Manchester), which can be found here I examined the UKIP electorate at the…

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Was immigration the right issue for Dave to raise?

Was immigration the right issue for Dave to raise?

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Ipsos-MORI MORI has concern about it dropping to a 9 year low On a day when the big political story has been Dave’s immigration speech and the attack upon it from Vince one of my favourite monthly polls is just out – the Ipsos-MORI issues index which has been asked in the same form for more than three decades. In the latest poll just 17% of those taking part said “race relations/immigration” – a drop of nine points since March…

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How valid is the YouGov 58% YES poll?

How valid is the YouGov 58% YES poll?

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Did previous questions influence the referendum finding? There’s a new AV poll from YouGov just out that was commissioned by the Institute for Public Policy Research and has findings that are very different from other recent surveys from the online pollster. After re-percentaging so that only decided voters are included the survey found YES ahead by 58% to 42% – a lead of sixteen points. This compares with the most recent YouGov AV poll that has NO 8% ahead. What…

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Will raising immigration stop the seepage of votes to UKIP?

Will raising immigration stop the seepage of votes to UKIP?

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Has Dave decided on a core votes strategy? With three weeks to go before the May 5th elections David Cameron is getting big headlines this morning over a speech that he’ll make on immigration. This marks a big change from last year’s general election when the main parties sought, each for their own reasons, to side-step the issue even though it generally ranks as one of the public’s main concerns. So what’s prompted today’s move in which he will attack…

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Does Dave’s 2009 speech rank alongside Clegg’s pledge on fees?

Does Dave’s 2009 speech rank alongside Clegg’s pledge on fees?

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It’s so easy to please when you are in opposition Some smart cookie has dug up this clip from April 2009 of Cameron getting rapturous applause from the Royal College of Nursing conference. His talk then of “pointless reorganisations” of the NHS that “then bring chaos” certainly got a great response delegates two years ago but then, like when Clegg made his pledge on student fees, they were in opposition. The world is so much different now they are in…

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