Could this plan go horribly wrong? At the end of what’s been the toughest week for the coalition comes news that plans are being considered for the Cameron and Clegg to speak at each other’s party conferences in the autumn. According to the Guardian the idea will be discussed at a joint political cabinet next month when the two parties will also decide how to co-ordinate policy announcements and how to sell the success of their first few months. The…
The shopworkers go with Mili-major At the end of September it will be the second anniversary of the famous picture of David Miliband with the banana which could coincide with his victory in Labour’s leadership election. For whatever you think of his unworldliness you cannot but admire the efficiency with which he has gone about his campaign. He roped in the most MPs to nominate him and now he’s opened the rush to get union support with a decision today…
Have you signed up for £19 a month? Guido had a good piece overnight on what’s happened to traffic on the Times site since the pay wall came into operation. For even though you can still get on for nothing during the “preview” period the numbers of hits its getting has dropped sharply. Heaven knows what will happen when the £10 a month charge comes in for there is a big issue as well as the cash. The site has…
Was Osborne’s aim to stop Labour doing this again? For me the above Labour PEB was by far the best piece of campaigning by any party at the election. It was designed to sow doubts about what a Tory government would do by focussing on key issues that affect middle income voters. The child credit was its first main point. If there was a single reason why Labour recovered so well in the closing days campaign it was because they…
Fieldwork Pollster/publication CON LAB LD 22-23 June YouGov / Sun 42 34 17 20-21 June YouGov / Sun 41 33 18 18-20 June ICM / The Guardian 39 31 21 18-20 June Ipsos MORI/Reuter 39 31 19 17-18 June YouGov / Sunday Times 39 34 19 16-17 June ComRes / Indy on Sunday 36 30 23 10-11 June YouGov / Sunday Times 40 32 18 10-11 June BPIX (YouGov) / Mail on Sunday 39 32 19 1-9 June Harris/Metro 36…
Evening Standard Who’ll be the new favourite as Cameron’s successor? The big news in London politics this lunchtime has been that Boris Johnson has ended the speculation and announced that he will be running for a second term as Mayor in 2012. This has an impact on two betting markets – who’ll be the next Mayor and who’ll be the next Tory leader. For, amazingly, given he’s not been an MP since 2008, Boris has become the favourite to take…
Is the Mirror the only one to get it right? Above are the front pages from the main tabloids which are not too bad for the coalition. Labour’s only voice in what used to be called Fleet Street, the Daily Mirror, put the emphasis on this afternoon’s final world cup group game for England with only a passing reference to the Chancellor’s statement. We should always be wary of instant reactions to budgets. As a general rule governments tend to…
Surely he should be saying something substantive? Listeners to Radio 5Live this morning were treated to a furious attack on Mr. David Miliband by former Lib Dem leader, Paddy Ashdown following his “dumb waiter” description of Nick Clegg. (Listen here after about 2 hours and 28 minutes) It provoked Ashdown to reveal for the first time how the elder Miliband failed to respond on that critical Tuesday when a LAB-LD deal looked possible. If DM had acted then maybe the…