So has Osborne recovered the initiative for the Tories?

So has Osborne recovered the initiative for the Tories?

Click panel to view BBC news clip What do we think of the council tax plan? After last year’s dramatic Monday at the Tory conference when George Osborne’s inheritance tax plan helped turned the political narrative on its head there was a degree of expectation when he got up to speak this morning. Alas the conference is being over-shadowed by the dramatic developments in the financial world and whatever Osborne said it was going to get nothing like the attention…

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Could sacking Palin be McCain’s next gamble?

Could sacking Palin be McCain’s next gamble?

Would the global financial collapse be the peg to hang it on? As the chart below shows there’s been a dramatic change in the fortunes of John McCain over the past fortnight. From a position where he was heading towards evens his declining opinion poll ratings have meant that he’s now moved out to more than 2/1 on Betfair. A growing concern must be the performance of his VP pick, Sarah Palin. While the world was distracted by the financial…

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Austria 2008 – live election results

Austria 2008 – live election results

Molterer (ÖVP), Van der Bellen (Greens), Strache (FPÖ), Haider (BZÖ), Faymann (SPÖ) Will the far-right surge result in another Grand Coalition? Welcome to live coverage on PB of the 2008 Austrian election results. The snap election was called after the Grand Coalition collapsed after only 18 months in office. More background is available here from the earlier PB article and here from Wikipedia. Early indications are that there has been a surge in support for the two far-right parties, the…

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Was Purnell’s speech too good for his own good?

Was Purnell’s speech too good for his own good?

Is this the man the Gord Gang is most worried about? Whenever party leaders are changed, it appears, the main selection criteria, it would appear, is for someone with the qualities that the outgoing person appears to lack. Look at Blair to Brown or Ming to Nick Clegg to get the general idea. And of the limited array of talent on parade at the Labour conference last week the potential leader who appeared to do best with his speech was…

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Can we have confidence in the Sunday Telegraph’s new pollster?

Can we have confidence in the Sunday Telegraph’s new pollster?

Sunday Telegraph Has ICM been been dumped for an unregistered firm? There’s a lot going on at the moment and the apparent decision of a major Sunday newspaper to switch pollsters might not seem that important – but today’s BPIX poll in the Sunday Telegraph raises serious issues for all who care about polling transparency. For after using the respected ICM firm for years the Sunday Telegraph’s poll this morning is from a firm that is not part of the…

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Will this be our next US import?

Will this be our next US import?

After spousal introductions at conference, could debates be next? One of the novelties of this week in British politics was seeing the Prime Minister introduced at the Labour Party Conference by his wife, Sarah Brown. In a short introductory address, she was chosen to help her husband connect with voters and to put ‘a human face on government’. I think the consensus was that she did very well in an unfamiliar role, and her decision drew plaudits from across the…

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So how did we score the first debate?

So how did we score the first debate?

Which candidate will be happier with their performance? Given the spectacle presented for our delectation only a couple of hours ago, I cannot have been alone in wishing Senators McCain and Obama had resolved to stay in Washington, rather than attend the first Presidential debate at Ole Miss. In retrospect, I would actually have preferred that the negotiations over the Congressional bailout had been televised instead. The clear consensus on PB.com was that this was a boring affair, peppered with…

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The White House Debate thread

The White House Debate thread

Could this be the make or break moment? Well it seems as though the first presidential debate is going ahead after all and a huge TV audience is expected for the Obama-McCain clash from Oxford, Mississippi. It’s due to start at 0200 UK time and will last for ninety minutes. Live White House Race betting odds Mike Smithson