Happy Christmas from Marf

Happy Christmas from Marf

The latest from our great addition to the PB team One of the great things to happen to PB during 2008 has been the arrival of Marf – our cartoonist who used to work for the London Evening Standard. Her work, which is normally up four times a week, has added a different and often biting dimension to the site. Her humour can be savage, particularly when combined with her brilliant drawing. It’s great to have to her on board….

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Should you take the 100/1 Blunkett Xmas present?

Should you take the 100/1 Blunkett Xmas present?

What about him getting his old job back? One of the top ten political betting tips listed in my 2007 book, The Political Punter, was that if ever there was a chance to have a wager on something involving David Blunkett – then get your money on. For there was a period when the ups and downs of the visually handicapped Sheffield MP provided a steady income for those who liked gambling on politics. Who can forget the huge media…

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What if the polls turned against Gord again?

What if the polls turned against Gord again?

Could his replacement once again become an issue? One thing that we’ve learned about Gordon in the past eighteen months is that he thrives when things are going his way. Cast your mind back to his supreme confidence in the July – September 2007 period and just look at how he has been transformed in the past three months. But what if it starts to go wrong again? What if the couple of polls at the end of 2008 turn…

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Have high taxes become a recipe for a Labour disaster?

Have high taxes become a recipe for a Labour disaster?

What do we think of ComRes’s tax and spend findings? The main lead in the Independent this morning is based on the responses to what I believe is a novel form of polling from the latest ComRes survey in which the headline figures showed a Tory 5% lead. For the pollster then went on to ask a series of questions of how respondents would vote in a number of different scenarios and then reported the findings applying the same weighting…

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ComRes reports a Tory recovery

ComRes reports a Tory recovery

CONSERVATIVES 39% (+2) LABOUR 34% (-2) LIB DEMS 16% (+2) Has the move to Labour run out of steam? What is surely the final opinion poll of 2008, from ComRes for tomorrow’s Independent, will bring some relief for the Tories who are up two points to 39% with Labour down a point to 35% two points to 34%. The Lib Dems are also up. For the last two ComRes polls both had the Tories on 37% just one point ahead…

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The PB Awards for 2008: Your chance to nominate

The PB Awards for 2008: Your chance to nominate

Who have been the posters of the year? In March 2009 PB will celebrating it’s fifth birthday at special events that we hope to arrange in London and possibly in the north of England as well. If the site stays as busy as it has been then by the due date, March 23rd 2009, the number of comments that have been posted here could have topped the one million mark. As part of the celebration we want to honour those…

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Should Gord have risked it in December 2008?

Should Gord have risked it in December 2008?

Has Labour missed the optimal moment for an election? The front page of the Independent is dominated by a single story – a comment by a “cabinet minister”, who is not named, about prospects for jobs in the new year. Many of the big redundancies, the report goes, have been held over with companies having held back until after the holiday period. The public sector, according to the paper, is going to be hard hit as well “contradicting saloon-bar wisdom.”…

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Does this put Greengate back on the agenda?

Does this put Greengate back on the agenda?

Is this a Christmas present to Cameron? This is how the Mail Online is featuring the Bob Quick story and Benedict Brogan does not pull his punches. The question now is whether this will resurrect interest in the Damian Green case which had subsided following the commons debate a fortnight ago. And if that happens will there be a political impact? The real problem all along for both ministers and the police is that in the absence of any possible…

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