Is it time for Mandelson to retire with dignity?

Is it time for Mandelson to retire with dignity?

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Does him being around make EdM’s challenge that more difficult? Several papers, including the Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Telegraph, this morning carry reports of an interview for the Total Politics magazine with Peter Mandelson during which he reveals that Labour’s new leader told him to “retire with dignity” – a term he interpreted as “being packed off to the old folk’s home“. In it Mandy pledges to be loyal to Ed Miliband, saying he did not want to…

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Labour move up 4 with ComRes online

Labour move up 4 with ComRes online

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Poll/publication Date CON % LAB % LD % ComRes/Indy on Sunday (Online) 19/11/10 37 38 13 ComRes/Independent (Phone) 31/10/10 35 37 16 ComRes/Indy on Sunday (Online) 15/10/10 40 34 14 ComRes/Independent (Online) 01/10/10 39 36 15 ComRes/Indy on Sunday (Online) 16/09/10 37 35 15 ComRes/Independent (Phone) 05/09/10 38 34 18 ComRes/Mirror/GMTV (Phone) 15/08/10 39 33 15 ComRes/Independent (Phone) 08/08/10 39 33 16 ComRes/Independent 27/06/10 40 31 18 And the Lib Dems drop to 13 There’s a new poll out tonight…

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Will bribes of free chocolate attract by-election volunteers?

Will bribes of free chocolate attract by-election volunteers?

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Is Labour having problems getting phone canvassers for Old & Sad? While surfing this afternoon while trying to find what the main parties are doing in Old & Sad I came across the above on an official Labour site – an appeal to recruit volunteer telephone canvassers in order to get the message out. What struck me as odd was the illustration, a basket of assorted chocolate bars, and the secondary headline – “… we’re giving campaign callers free chocolate”….

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How will voters regard a pre-Christmas by-election?

How will voters regard a pre-Christmas by-election?

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Wikipedia Will it be down to who is best at fighting in the dark? The Old & Sad by election has been put on one side as everybody waits for the judges to give their verdict on Woolas’s appeal for a judicial review. That’s expected during the coming week and the verdict could trigger off the process in the commons of calling the by election. Dates being talked about are December 16th and even December 23rd when the hours of…

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Was this the year things didn’t happen as planned?

Was this the year things didn’t happen as planned?

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Are Ed’s problems because he didn’t expect to win? In the next few weeks there’ll be a lot of look-backs on the extraordinary political developments that have marked 2010. A year ago it looked like David Cameron was all set to win an overall majority in the ensuing general election and in the Labour election that would inevitably follow the elder Miliband brother, David, would become Labour leader. Well if the general election and what happened afterwards, the creation of…

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53 new peers created! Isn’t this getting ridiculous?

53 new peers created! Isn’t this getting ridiculous?

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BBC The big political news this morning is that there’s been a massive expansion of the house of lords today with a wapping 53 new peers created. This is all part of the measures to boost the coalition in the upper house where Labour has had the most votes. I despair that such a measure is felt necessary. Why should a critical part of the legislative process be chosen by patronage? Quite a few of the latest names failed in…

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Is Lord Young’s gaffe worse than the Liam Byrne letter?

Is Lord Young’s gaffe worse than the Liam Byrne letter?

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Sky News Will it be chucked back at the Tories for years to come? What a 24 hours it’s been for top Tory advisor and former cabinet minister, Lord Young. Yesterday he was waking up to the coverage of the Spectator “Parliamentarian of the Year Awards” when he pulled off the honour of being the “Peer of the Year”. This morning he’s in the doghouse and after having to eat humble pie following his comments to the Telegraph that the…

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Should PB have its own polling average?

Should PB have its own polling average?

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Poll/publication Date CON % LAB % LD % YouGov/Sun 17/11/10 40 40 11 Ipsos-MORI/Reuters 14/11/10 36 39 14 ComRes/Independent 30/10/10 35 37 16 Angus Reid/ 28/10/10 35 37 15 Populus/Times 24/10/10 37 38 15 ICM/Guardian 24/10/10 39 36 16 As regulars will know I have always been strongly against polling averages. However I am coming to a view that we do need something which provides an indicator of the broad trend by taking the last survey from each of the…

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