A guest article by Harry Hayfield Conservative majority of 50: Weaver Vale: Con gain from Lab (Swing: 7.01% to Conservative) Weaver Vale (which as the name suggests is based in the historic weaving communities of South Cheshire) is the newest of all the seats on the Conservative hitlist as it was created in 1997 by taking a huge chunk out of Conservative Eddisbury and creating a new seat out of the remnants. Clearly it was the Labour bits they took…
Has he called this one well for the Lib Dems? As well as the TUC voting in favour of a referendum on the EU Treaty (but rejecting the RMT call for a “No” vote), Lib Dem leader Ming Campbell has added his voice to the debate. In an interview with the FT, he stated that the new EU reform treaty was “sufficiently different†from the original constitution to avoid the need for a referendum. However, he said that if there…
A guest article by Peter the Punter My brother really annoys me when we go racing. He backs all the short-priced favourites, just so that he can crow about how many winners he had. When I point out his paltry returns he just grins smugly and tells me that a winner is a winner, whatever the price. I tried to shut him up once by offering him a bet on the toss of a coin at the odds of 2-1…
After the lukewarm speech and a strike vote, will the unions call for a referendum? When Tony Blair was Prime Minister, it usually seemed as though his speech to the TUC was just something that had to be “got through”, and especially post-Iraq, it never looked like an occasion that Blair or the unions found either enjoyable or useful. Somewhat ironic then that Brown, who is far more steeped in Labour tradition than his predecessor ever was, even while being…
A guest article by Harry Hayfield A “well hung” Parliament: Hammersmith : Con gain from Lab (Swing: 4.22% to Conservative) Now, I am sorry to disappoint all the lady readers here, but that’s not what you think it is. A well hung Parliament is a parliament where both the main parties have roughly the same number of seats and based on the boundary changes for this election, that would happen if the Conservatives gained 78 seats and Labour lost 70…
Or is America deluding itself? The US top commander in Iraq, General Petraeus, is halfway through his two-day testimony on the effects of the troop surge, and has come under heavy criticism from the Democrat-controlled Congress. Petraeus has indicated that he thought around 30,000 troops could be withdrawn by the middle of next year, although reaction to his appearance was often split down party lines. Obviously this is a key political moment as the 2008 election approaches, and indeed both…
Greece votes on Sunday with New Democracy the favourites Despite the recent fires which ravaged parts of the Peloponnese and the island of Evia near Athens, Greece will hold a snap general election on Sunday as planned, from 7am to 7pm local time. The parliamentary term was set to last until March, but speculation has arisen that the poll has been held early as the government feared the fallout from a bond scandal which looked set to intensify later this…
One of the hottest topics in UK politics – but no betting market Whatever your views on whether or not the UK should hold a referendum on the EU Treaty, and regular readers of pb.com will know that there is passionate debate on the subject, the fact remains that there is as yet no chance for punters to back their hunches with a betting market on the subject. Pressure continues to build on Gordon, and this week’s TUC conference will…