White House race – latest prices

White House race – latest prices

The above are the mid afternoon (1545 GMT) prices on the races for the Democratic and the Republican nominees for this November’s US Presidential election. The picture is getting much clearer as we move into the next crucial phase of state primaries. On Saturday 26 January it’s the South Carolina Democratic Primary and the following Tuesday there will be the crucial Republican and the Florida Democratic primaries. Once all those have been completed we should have an even firmer view…

Read More Read More

Will it ever get as bad as this for Gordon?

Will it ever get as bad as this for Gordon?

Do PMQs really turn the voters off? According to a report in the Independent yesterday Gordon Brown is telling friends that the public is being increasingly repelled by PMQs and that the Commons exchanges are now of little use in discussing the issues of the day. He’s reported as saying that “nothing prepares you” for the ferocity of a packed chamber in full cry” and that the weekly event is worse than it has ever been I’m not so sure….

Read More Read More

The Tory commons spreads move up 3-4 seats

The Tory commons spreads move up 3-4 seats

New buy levels put Cameron only 17/18 seats short In the high risk high reward arena of commons seats spread betting there’s been a significant move to the Tories in the aftermath of the Northern Rock statement and the ongoing stock market troubles. When this was last covered here at the end of last week the highest Tory buy level was 304 seats – 21 short of an overall majority. In the past 24 hours there’ve been big moves to…

Read More Read More

Is John McCain the GOP’s Ken Clarke?

Is John McCain the GOP’s Ken Clarke?

Are they both more popular outside their parties than within? Just reading what some US right wing commentators are saying about John McCain it struck me that he is his party’s Ken Clarke. Both McCain and Clarke have sought and failed to be party leader/presidential nominee in the past Both McCain and Clarke have been seen by outsider observers as being highly electable Both McCain and Clarke are probably more popular outside their parties than within Both McCain and Clarke…

Read More Read More

The sparks fly between Hillary and Barack

The sparks fly between Hillary and Barack

For those who find the battle between Clinton and Obama absolutely compelling this six minute extract from last night’s debate before a black audience in South Carolina is a must view. The black senator has clearly decided to raise the ante – the question is whether it will do him any good or not. The Clintons are a formidable pair. In the betting the Hillary price has continued to tighten and now stands at 0.45/1 for the nomination. Bear in…

Read More Read More

Could this change things on both sides of the Atlantic?

Could this change things on both sides of the Atlantic?

Who’ll come out best when there is so much uncertainty? After a day which saw the Northern Rock bailout plan, the start of the EU treaty process in the Commons and the Channel 4 programme on Ken’s record as Mayor these are the headlines in the “serious” papers this morning. It’s hard to focus on a specific political theme because, as Simon Hoggart in the Guardian puts is “..Outside in the real world the stock market was melting down..” If…

Read More Read More

Will the Goldman plan ease Gord’s Rock headache?

Will the Goldman plan ease Gord’s Rock headache?

What will the impact of NR be on the next general election? So there we have it. The Darling-Brown plan to solve the Northern Rock crisis without them, on the face of it at least, having to resort to nationalisation. But a lot of tax-payer’s money is still at stake and Vince Cable’s point that ministers have gone for a private sector solution without the private sector risking any money certainly hit home in the commons a short time ago….

Read More Read More

Can Ken withstand the media barrage?

Can Ken withstand the media barrage?

Is winning a third term starting to look doubtful? If you want proof that May’s fight for the London Mayoralty might not be the foregone conclusion that the betting markets currently suggest then do what I did last night – go to Google News and input the words “Ken Livingstone”. The top few results are featured in the screen shot above – and just looking down the list you can see that he might be in some trouble. What’s particularly…

Read More Read More