Should George take away my 2007 election “bribe”?

Should George take away my 2007 election “bribe”?

Comments 0 Comment

Is it time to stop feather-bedding the oldies? Remember the dramatic month of September 2007. Big new public spending announcement were being made by the day as the Brown government was preparing the ground for an autumn general election. One of those bribes was, for the over-60s in England, the national bus pass scheme which allows free travel anywhere in the country on local services. It’s great – I love it. Not only does it give me free travel near…

Read More Read More

Will the World Cup blank out the budget bad news?

Will the World Cup blank out the budget bad news?

Comments 0 Comment

Is Osborne playing double-or-nothing on England? New Labour, when it was new, had its Grid: a careful plan of big national and international events around which those running the party would schedule their own campaign launches, policy announcements, events and so on. It worked very well at the time though it did help that it had a largely friendly media and opponents who were outclassed on that score and, for that matter, that Labour was in opposition (it’s always harder…

Read More Read More

How much can we rely on early polls?

How much can we rely on early polls?

Comments 0 Comment

Is Labour’s election a pollster’s nightmare? With Labour leadership polls expected in the next few days it’s worth reminding ourselves that we should not pay too much attention, or risk too much cash, on findings so far ahead of the ballot. At this stage, three months before the ballots went out, in the 2005 Tory race the Betfair price on then shadow home secretary, David Davis had tightened to 0.47/1. YouGov polling had him emphatically beating David Cameron in a…

Read More Read More

Is Hughes really a threat to the coalition?

Is Hughes really a threat to the coalition?

Comments 0 Comment

Will he take on the role of lightning conductor? There’s one recent election that I’ve not covered at all because the result, to my mind, was so much of a foregone conclusion – that of the selection by Lib Dems MPs of veteran Bermondsey MP, former London mayoral candidate and former party president, Simon Hughes, as deputy leader. He takes over from Vince Cable and will become the most senior member of the parliamentary party not to be a minister….

Read More Read More

Is Balls best placed to show his prowess?

Is Balls best placed to show his prowess?

Comments 0 Comment

Guardian.co.uk My thoughts on the Labour race are in a Guardian piece this morning. In the betting I’m on all five and even though I’ve had a lot of speculative bets will make a good profit whoever does it. My best outcomes with the top price I backed at are Abbott (50/1) and Ed Balls (22/1). These are followed by EdM (20/1), Andy Burnham (16/1) and David Miliband who I got at 7/1 last October. My plan is to bet…

Read More Read More

Coalition still supported by two in three

Coalition still supported by two in three

Comments 0 Comment

“Approve or disapprove of the government” Approve Disapprove All voters 44% 24% Tory voters 79% 7% Labour voters 14% 39% LD voters 50% 19% “Support or oppose the coalition?” Support Oppose All voters 60% 30% Tory voters 86% 12% Labour voters 25% 62% LD voters 73% 17% But will it change after the cuts package? New YouGov polling data suggests that support for the coalition continues. Interestingly the figures above are broken down into what respondents said they did at…

Read More Read More

It’s now down to five

It’s now down to five

Comments 0 Comment

SkyNews Can Diane make it to 33 by 12.30pm? As he had always said he would if he thought his withdrawal would help get a woman contender onto the ballot John McDonnell has quit the Labour race thus releasing those who have nominated to support other candidates. Whether all those who had gone with McDonnell will follow his lead we will have to see – but it’s looking likely that a total of five will have reached the 33 total…

Read More Read More