So he’s said the C-word?
Smart move or a sign of weakness?
What’s the point of being a Tory member after Bedford?
Could “open primaries” de-motivate activists? Iain Dale, who was chairman, has produced his own version of last night’s events in Bedford on his own blog. It paints an upbeat picture of the event to select a Tory candidate for next month’s by mayoral by-election with an electorate of 100,000, Iain did a good job in difficult circumstances and very much held the event together. He was watched over by Tory chairman, Eric Pickles, who, it should be noted, blanked me…
Is Mandy now the de facto Prime Minister?
Guardian online What does this say about Brown’s decline? Lots of very uncomfortable reading for Number 10 in this morning’s papers – perhaps nothing more so that this in the Guardian by Martin Kettle. Something, surely, has got to give? HAT-TIP ChristinaD on the previous thread. Bedford Tory Mayoral primary: I’ll probably be doing a piece here or on PB2 later about the extraordinary events at last night’s hustings and election overseen by Tory Chairman, Eric Pickles with Iain Dale…
Tories extend their lead with Populus
CON 41 (+3) LAB 27% (+1) LD 18 (-2) Now all the firms have them in the 40s This the first public survey for the Times by the firm since mid-July and clearly the comparisons above reflect that. The numbers are very much in line with all the other firms and show that there’s been very little movement during the summer. Populus operates in a manner that’s very similar to ICM and, indeed, the firm usually uses ICM call centres…
A new Populus poll tonight…
….but I’ll be otherwise engaged The big polling news this evening should be from Populus – the firm’s first public survey for nearly two months. Fieldwork for the last one finished on July 19th and the shares were C38-L26-LD20. The Tories, surely, must be hoping to be in the 40s like they are with all the other pollsters. I’ll be doing a full thread later but I’m tied up this evening with a big political event in Bedford where I…
Could this be the start of a Labour rebellion against the PM?
Mail Online Do we now have a stalking horse? Probably the most significant political move this morning is the above story by Tim Shipman on the Mail website about the plans of Barry Sheerman MP to make a stand in coming secret PLP elections as the anti-Brown candidate. The outline of the process was first revealed by Shipman last week but this takes it a couple of steps forward. Firstly long-standing Brown critic, Sheerman, is named and secondly there’s a…
Is this how Labour could stay out of power for decades?
Guardian Has the movement forgotten what made Blair electable? In days gone by the TUC conference (it starts today by the way) used to be a high profile event that kicked off the season of political gatherings and would be given almost as much coverage as the Liberal, Labour and Tories ones that followed. That was when the unions were much larger and much more powerful than they are today and, of course, when the country still had a significant…
Are you on the autumn’s first betting heat?
Ladbrokes Labour’s Stoltenberg is firm PM favourite despite tight polls Yukio Hatoyama is set to be officially confirmed as Japan’s new Prime Minister this week, but already the international circus has moved on, and tomorrow will see the first election of the autumn with serious betting interest, in the shape of Norway. The above market from Ladbrokes (such is the betting importance of Norway that the Magic Sign have a local trading desk) shows that Labour’s Jens Stoltenberg is a…