Who will you nominate for the site’s annual award? Every year since the site began we have run an election for the “Poster of the Year” when lurkers and commenters can decide who has added most to our discussions over the past twelve months. The process is in three stages. At this stage we are seeking nominations. Who do you think should we should be including on the list of possibles? Can you use the thread below to make your…
Does an ageing electorate add to the challenge for the reds? One of the stories carried by several papers this morning is the projection by the Department for Work and Pensions that almost a fifth of Britons will live to 100. This is all based on population trends that point to about half a million people a year celebrating their 100th birthday by 2066, compared with about 10,000 now. But this is not just a long-term development. The figures suggest…
Will the automated phone survey change the betting? I’ve just had word that the automated phone pollster, Survation, is carrying out a survey in Oldham East & Saddleworth ahead of the by-election. The firm carries out surveys, like a number of US pollsters, by automated phone calls. Respondees answer by keying in their answers on the key-pad of their phones. ComRes used something similar for its post-debate general election polling when it was trying to produce an almost instant response….
How many mistakes is one too many? Michael Gove appears to have performed so many U-turns this month that perhaps he should have been the cabinet member on Strictly Come Dancing. He’s certainly required fancy political footwork to come out of the episode without too much damage, having firstly changed his mind on the funding of school sports and then again on provision of free books. This comes on top of embarrassments during the summer when his department released inaccurate…
Event Rentoul’s Predictions for 2011 Date Oldham E & Saddleworth “Labour gain†13/01/11 Welsh referendum “Labour-Plaid Cymru gain†03/03/11 AV referendum “Lib Dem loss†05/05/11 The economy “Conservative gain†31/12/11 What do we think of the Blair biographer’s predictions? The Indy on Sunday’s political editor and Blair biographer, John Rentoul, has published a list of his main predictions for 2011 and they are set out in the table above. While I do think that Labour’s got a good chance in…
Oldham E & Saddleworth by-election betting LABOUR LIB DEMS TORIES Ladbrokes 1/4 4/1 14/1 William Hill 1/6 9/2 11/1 Victor Chandler 1/6 9/2 10/1 PaddyPower 2/11 10/3 12/1 Bet365 1/4 7/2 16/1 SkyBet 2/11 7/2 25/1 Betfair 0.18/1 5.4/1 31/1 Smarkets 1/4 75/20 22/1 Labour remain strong odds-on favourites With the postal vote packs in the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election due to be mailed out in the next couple of days the latest by-election betting shows a weakening of…
Guardian Is it all about the questions you ask? With David Cameron said to be planning to defer the promised free vote on the anti-hunting legislation there’s news of two opinion polls from leading pollsters which the rival lobbying groups have issued to support their cases. Thanks to JonathanD on the previous thread for spotting this:- He wrote: “A survey by Ipsos-Mori for the League Against Cruel Sports released on Boxing Day showed that 76% of the British public think…
Whatgas average price of a litre of unleaded What’ll record levels and the VAT increase going to do? One trend that’s hardly been commented upon over the holiday period has been the rising cost of filling your car up. Over the past few days the price has been edging upwards and we are now at record levels. This can have a political impact. Labour’s low point in the polls in July 2008 coincided with the last high in the price…