Marf’s Thursday Special
PB’s cartoonist is Marf of LondonSketchbook.com
Will Ladbrokes catch a cold from the Manc C-Charge?
Is it down to passengers against commuting motorists? At 10pm tonight voting closes in what’s been, after the London Mayoral Race, the biggest single UK election of 2008. A total of 1.94m electors across ten boroughs in the Manchester conurbation have been voting by post to decide whether drivers should pay peak hour congestion charges. If this was down to the punters there’d be an overwhelming NO vote. Ladbrokes has reported that 92% of all bets placed have been against…
Was Gord’s PMQ “blunder” what he really believes?
Will he ever live the phrase down? There’s lots of material for the parliamentary sketch-writers this morning after Gordon Brown PMQ response to David Cameron is which he said “We not only saved the world..” Typical is Quentin Letts in the Mail: “..Saved the world’, eh? The hubris! It is one thing for Downing Street spin meisters to spout such nonsense but when a Prime Minister starts to believe his own propaganda we’re in trouble..In those moments immediately after the…
Did Glenrothes rip-up the election timing “rule-book”?
Would we be more exposed to TV in a winter election With all the talk of a 2009 election there’s almost a knee-jerk reaction that it really would have to take place between March and October because elections are pretty hard “to fight in the dark”. But is that necessarily the case? On the previous thread HenryG Manson noted “..However one broadsheet columnist made an astute point a few weeks ago that Glenrothes showed that Labour can win elections ‘in…
Will welfare reform go through only with Tory support?
How dangerous is such a radical package? As fore-shadowed in the Queen’s Speech the government has published its welfare reform white paper which, amongst many measures, seeks to get tough on claimants who are able to work. There’s little doubt that this will resonate will large sections of the electorate – but could it be a controversy too far in the run-up to an election? Marf’s cartoon sums it up – the measure might appear to be too tough for…
What will the “greying” of the electorate do to voting?
Could this provide a hidden boost to Cameron? On a morning when there’s confirmation that there are now more pensioners in Britain than children I thought it might be useful to look at the potential electoral impact. This provides a useful peg to highlight a fascinating academic paper by Scott Davidson of Loughborough University which was published in 2006 called “The Grey Battleground”. The above table is from the paper. We are probably all aware of the key dynamics but…
PB Balance of Money Index: CON Majority 32 seats
Why are gamblers lagging behind the polls? This evening “spreads” from the two main UK spread-betting firms suggest a Conservative majority of 32 seats at the general election. Their prices are based on how much is being wagered by gamblers who are buying and selling seats in the three main parties. The PB Index is a way of reflecting market opinion in one single number. It is worked out by looking at the “mid-points” – the difference between the BUY…
Another day – another government initiative
Is Green-gate now just history For a demonstration of the power of the government to control the news agenda just look at today’s development with the planned ban on tobacco product displays in shops. This is a relatively minor move that won’t come in for corner shops until 2013 – yet look at how much coverage this has attracted. There’s a bit of controversy there and its something else to go on the bulletins. Meanwhile the Damian Green story will…