Are MPs and peers about to lose their half term holiday? The whole effort by Labour peers to filibuster the AV referendum and constituencies bill has been driven by the apparent need for the legislation to be in place by next Wednesday to meet the May 5th election date. For there’s a legal requirement that there has to be 10 weeks between a measure for a referendum getting the royal assent and the date of the election. But as Michael…
Poll Date CON % LAB % LD % Angus Reid/Politicalbetting 10/02/11 34 40 11 Angus Reid/Sunday Express 28/01/11 32 43 11 Angus Reid/Politicalbetting 25/01/11 33 41 12 Angus Reid/ 06/01/11 35 40 12 Angus Reid/ 20/12/10 35 41 9 Angus Reid/ 29/11/10 35 40 13 Angus Reid/ 28/10/10 35 37 15 Angus Reid/Sunday Express 01/10/10 35 38 16 Is this a blip or a reversal of the trend? After a start to 2011 that has seen all the polling momentum…
Aljazeera But what/who is going to replace him?
A special guest slot by Sean Fear Social Democracy has been the dominant political philosophy in Western Europe for the past 50 years or so, and has been influential in the rest of the Western World over the same period. A political philosophy is dominant when even its opponents are obliged to accept its fundamental beliefs, in order to get elected. Essentially, Social Democrats (unlike more traditional Socialists) believe that there is no need for governments to take direct control…
Where will the fallout from yesterday’s vote end? If the overwhelming vote in the Commons against prisoners being granted the vote is unsurprising, it is so only because in choosing between reflecting the views of the country and setting up a clash with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), they opted for the former despite the can of worms that could open up. In the past, politicians have tended to opt for a ‘hands tied’ defence. In the short…
BBC news But will Mubarak really stand down? The big world story tonight is the Egyptian crisis which looks as though it might be in its final stages. Reports are coming out that Mubarak is about to stand down – but could this just be another ploy to buy more time. The next 24 hours could be critical. Mike Smithson
Will he follow predecessors and stay till his mid-70s? Last night night I took part in a PoliticsHome poll of “Westminister insiders” on John Bercow’s chances of staying in the job for this parliament. Thinking about the question it is hard to see how he could be forced out if he was determined to stay. He’d brazen it out, surely, and it’s unlikely there would ever be a situation when a there’d be a majority of MPs willing to pass…
Could AV be introduced even if the country voted NO? So Monday’s vote (a squeaker at 219 Content vs 218 Not-content) in the House of Lords was on an amendment introduced by Lord Rooker, and read simply: “If less than 40% of the electorate vote in the referendum, the result shall not be binding” Ignoring for one moment the rights and wrongs of turnout thresholds, I’m not sure what impact this might have on the respective campaigns. My first thought…