So is it going to be a Miliband?

So is it going to be a Miliband?

Ladbrokes are offering 1/3 that it’ll be one of them So far the only two people to declare themselves as candidates for the Labour leadership have been the Brothers Miliband who are first and second favourites in the betting. At the moment David is odds-on while you can get Ed at between 3/1 and 4/1. So if you think it is going the Miliband family way which should you choose? There were a couple of revealing Tweets from ex-Observer writer,…

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Is Harriet the one to watch?

Is Harriet the one to watch?

Will she really allow an all-male shortlist? The Labour leadership contest is being dominated in the early stages by David Miliband, who is heavily odds-on with all outlets. While the usual rule for Labour Leadership elections is that the favourite wins, there just look to be too many variables at the moment to justify such short odds on the former Foreign Secretary. Perhaps the biggest variable is what the field will be. Other than the Milibands, there are no other…

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YouGov finds big thumbs-up for the coalition

YouGov finds big thumbs-up for the coalition

“Do you approve or disapprove of the coalition..?” ALL CON LAB LD Approve 60% 87% 25% 69% Disapprove 33% 13% 68% 24% Given the way that this has been reported in the past few days it is hardly surprising that it should have got so much backing and I would expect other polls this weekend to show the same broad picture. What YouGov does not have are new post-election voting shares for the three parties. My guess is that these…

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Could John be the lightning conductor for coalition dissidents?

Could John be the lightning conductor for coalition dissidents?

Would a speaker ballot be a proxy to register opposition? The remarkable thing so far in this brave new world of coalition politics is how well the Tory right has behaved. Yes there have been a few rumblings but not on the scale that might have been anticipated. I wonder whether the re-election of John Bercow as speaker could act as a focus for their dissent. For it only requires one MP to object when the new parliament opens and…

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A timely reminder from Labour’s last election

A timely reminder from Labour’s last election

Who’ll be the 2010 Harriet Harman? As we embark on the contest to elect Gordon Brown’s successor let us just remind ourselves of the mess that most pundits and punters made of the deputy election in 2007. All the money was on Alan Johnson who became a very tight odds-on favourite. Nobody gave Hattie a chance. This was held under exactly the same rules as Labour will use in the coming encounter which, as can be seen, can make prediction…

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Should this influence Labour’s leadership choice?

Should this influence Labour’s leadership choice?

Election Winning leader Alma mater 1945 Clement Attlee University of Oxford 1950 Clement Attlee University of Oxford 1951 Winston Churchill Non graduate 1955 Anthony Eden University of Oxford 1959 Harold Macmillan University of Oxford 1964 Harold Wilson University of Oxford 1966 Harold Wilson University of Oxford 1970 Edward Heath University of Oxford 1974 Feb Harold Wilson University of Oxford 1974 Oct Harold Wilson University of Oxford 1979 Margaret Thatcher University of Oxford 1983 Margaret Thatcher University of Oxford 1987 Margaret…

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Are expectations running a bit too high?

Are expectations running a bit too high?

What happens when the novelty wears off? The papers this morning remind me of the media honeymoon that Mr. Brown enjoyed when he took over at Number 10 in June 2007. It was such a novelty not having Blair there any more that the media seemed to abandon its critical faculties. Well it’s the same this morning. The ending of the Labour and Brown era combined with the real shock of what’s transpired are giving the CON-LIB duo an amazing…

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