Mail on Sunday What do we think of the Mail on Sunday story? I’ve just placed a bet with Ladbrokes against Alan Johnson as next Labour leader at the very attractive price of 33/1. What’s prompted it is the above report from the Mail on Sunday that Johnson is being urged to ‘ready himself’ to replace Ed Miliband who has only been in the job since September 25th. This seems to be be just about plausible given Alan Johnson’s very…
At some stage, surely, one of them has to give? The Speccie’s James Forsyth has picked up on another airing in public of a policy disagreement with his boss by the shadow chancellor, Alan Johnson. The issue the latter’s continuing opposition to a graduate tax is reiterated again today in an interview with the Telegraph. Clearly this is the issue of the moment and when Johnson tells the paper that ” .frankly, there’s a difference of view..I feel it’s going…
A guest slot by Gerard Tully – in his final year at Cambridge I should make clear that while I am not involved in the Cambridge occupation, many people I know are. As someone who is strongly skeptical about whether students can really be motivated, this wave of occupation and protest is looking to me more and more like a game-changer. The number of student occupations is growing by the day – now a list including Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, LSE,…
Does today’s judgement really impact on “free speech”? In his response to today’s judgement the ex-MP, Phil Woolas said the ruling had created uncertainty about what election candidates could and could not say about each other adding that “That is not good for a strong democracy”. But is this the case? For a close reading of the detailed judgement, which I recommend, shows the extraordinary lengths the judges went to distinguish between the rough and tumble of campaigning and what…
What will an emphatic victory do for his leadership? Parliamentary by-elections are generally a good thing for leaders under a bit of pressure. For in the run-up to such important electoral tests even the most dissident members of their own parties tend to hold their tongues. No one wants to be accused of saying or doing anything that could undermine their chances. So if today’s court announcement in the Phil Woolas case does open the door to an early contest…
PAPA since the General Election PB All Pollsters’ Average Date CON % LAB % LD % PAPA November 2010 30/11/10 36.6 39.4 12.6 PAPA October 2010 31/10/10 37.6 37.2 15.2 PAPA September 2010 30/09/10 37.8 37.0 14.8 PAPA August 2010 31/08/10 39.3 36.0 15.0 PAPA July 2010 31/07/10 40.0 36.7 15.0 PAPA June 2010 30/06/10 40.2 37.2 17.2 This shows the averages until the end of November. The PAPA from last night had CON 37: LAB 39: LD 12.8 Mike…
What’ll be the political affect of the decision – win or lose? In just under an hour the voting by FIFA on the venue for the 2018 World Cup will be announced in Zurich after a morning of presentations and a remarkable Tweet by Ed Miliband’s chief media spokesperson, Kate Myler. In it she accused the Prime Minister of “pimping himself out in Zurich..” – a quote that’s likely to be repeated back at the opposition leader time and time…