Will humour be the king when they come face to face? Probably the most eagerly awaited political encounter for years will take place at 12 noon on July 4th when the new Labour leader, Gordon Brown, will face David Cameron at Prime Minister’s Questions for the first time. The format will be familiar – the opposition leader gets a maximum of six questions which he can use when he wants but the Prime Minister always has the last word. How…
Should gamblers be betting on Labour moving back into the lead? On November 22nd 2005, just two weeks before David Cameron was crowned as Tory leader Mori was showing Labour with a 42%-32% lead over the Tories. On December 12th, less than a week after the Tory leadership election result, the pollster had a CON-LAB split of 40%-31%. So Cameron’s Mori “bounce” was a staggering 19%. If the arrival of Gordon as leader and Prime Minister was to have the…
Why doesn’t the media quote betting exchange prices? This piece which went up on the Guardian website an hour or so a go is a typical example of lazy and misleading coverage of political betting. It’s almost become a cliche now to cover a story by looking at the betting odds – but what betting odds? For if the paper had looked at the dynamic betting round-the-clock exchange prices where punters themselves trade with each other a different picture emerges….
Why my money remains on Labour for the general election A good piece by Daniel Finkelstein in the Times this morning sets out lucidly something I have been planing to touch on for a week and which will almost certainly decide the next election. For is the Tory party capable of changing itself so it can become electable again? For while the leadership has made big steps in evolving the way Tories present themselves will the party be able to…
In a big polling turnaround in the race for the White House the black senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, has now edged past Hillary Clinton in a poll on the Democratic nomination. This is only the second time that Obama has enjoyed such a poll lead. In the survey Obama is ahead of Clinton by a single percentage point, 30%-29%, if the contest includes former vice president turned Oscar winner, Al Gore. However if Gore is not there the poll…
The public, but not Tories, support Dave’s grammar school stance The only movement in the June survey by Populus for the Times is a one point decrease in the Tory share bringing the lead over Labour down to just 3%. The shares with changes on last month are: CON 36%(-1): LAB 33% (nc): LD 17% (nc). The fieldwork took place over the weekend and the Tories will probably be relieved that they’ve survived almost intact. Labour might have been hoping…
Who’ll benefit from a very low turnout? Looking at the detail from yesterday’s YouGov poll of Labour and TU members on the deputy leadership it’s clear that turnout is going to be absolutely critical. If Brown had not got his coronation there would have been a mass ballot to decide the next prime minister going on at the same time and the proportion voting would have been enormous. But that’s not happening and the election is getting very little media…
Can the actor who’s played the part of President get the nomination? The chart shows how punters on the Betfair market on the Republican nominee for next year’s White House have seen the past month. The former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, who made his name after September 11 is still favourite but the price has started to ease. The market has moved early front-runner who lost out to George Bush in 2000, John McCain who has now drifted…