Is Team Brown planning a final humiliation for Tony?

Is Team Brown planning a final humiliation for Tony?

Is it worth betting on Brown taking over a lot earlier? The extraordinary situation that could see Gordon winning the Labour leadership by default this afternoon but having to wait until the end of June before taking over has already led to calls that the change-over should happen now. This is the front page editorial in the Independent this morning and the message could not be clearer. Brown is the winner – what’s the point of Blair struggling on for…

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Is it best for Dave if Gordon to has to fight?

Is it best for Dave if Gordon to has to fight?

Contest or coronation – what’s best for the Tories? With the time fast running out on John McDonnell’s desperate attempt to get a further seventeen Labour MPs to back his nomination what outcome are the Tories hoping for tomorrow lunchtime? Does the Cameron gang want Gordon to get his coronation and then spend the next six weeks with his rather pointless campaign or would they like to see Brown having to face a challenge from McDonnell? My guess is that…

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Sorry for the technical problems

Sorry for the technical problems

1250 gmt We are experiencing severe difficulties with the site today and it might be a few hours before we can get it back to normal. I can still publish articles but it is not possible for people to submit comments. Mike Smithson

Can Ming go on withstanding all the pressure?

Can Ming go on withstanding all the pressure?

Could the party lose two leaders in the same parliament? The power of the media to frame the agenda by deciding what is asked in opinion polls is shown vividly this morning with the top political story in the Times being the findings from the second part of its monthly Populus poll. Yesterday we saw that all the rise in Labour support has been at the expense of the Lib Dems which dropped from 20% to 17% – the second…

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Who’ll get it if Benn isn’t on the ballot?

Who’ll get it if Benn isn’t on the ballot?

Is Harman ready to pick up the lion’s share of Benn’s support? The above is the last poll of Labour members on the coming deputy leadership election which was taken just over two weeks ago. Clearly if Benn gets the nominations then he is worthy of his 7/2 third favourite status – particularly as he is picking up so much of the female vote as can be seen in the chart. But how are the 36% that placed Benn top…

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Populus: Labour moves forward at the LD’s expense

Populus: Labour moves forward at the LD’s expense

But the Tories return to 42% on the named leader question The May Populus survey for the Times, out this morning shows a biggish swing from the Lib Dems to Labour but with the Tory share remaining static. The headline numbers with changes on last month are CON 37% (nc): LAB 33% (+4): LD 17% which, if repeated at a general election would produce a hung parliament with Labour having most seats. But when the “named leader” question was asked…

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So is there going to be a contest after all?

So is there going to be a contest after all?

Will McDonnell manage to get the 44 nominations? After this afternoon’s announcement that Michael Meacher is standing aside to let John McDonnell run the big issue is whether he’ll get the required 44 nominations to be on the ballot alongside Brown. He has until Thursday and will be helped, no doubt by his assured performance in last night’s debate. He’ll also attract a fair degree of media attention in the coming days and my guess is that people are going…

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