Byers: what was he thinking of?

Byers: what was he thinking of?

One of the bigger political stories in last Sunday’s press was Blairite former cabinet minister Stephen Byers‘s call in the Sunday Telegraph for Labour to abolish inheritance tax as “a penalty for hard work, thrift and enterprise”. Perhaps predictably, this didn’t go down well with Brownites; the Guardian reported Alastair Darling and other allies of the Chancellor as “stamping on” the idea, before, after or perhaps simultaneous with giving it a “blistering riposte”. In fact, almost no one at all…

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Sean Fear’s local elections column

Sean Fear’s local elections column

Universities are still hostile to the Tories In the days of Sir Maurice Bowra, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien, it would have been hard to imagine Oxford as being anything other than a Conservative stronghold. Academics, students, and college servants were all overwhelmingly Conservative in their sympathies, and Conservatives dominated the City Council. Sadly, that has all changed. Mark Senior’s description of the Conservatives as a “minor party” in the City is all too true. The Conservatives don’t have a…

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Are these the chinks in Cameron’s armour?

Are these the chinks in Cameron’s armour?

The Tory leader’s strengths and weaknesses – Part 2 Following yesterday’s post on Cameron’s strengths today I look at some of the factors that are going to make David Cameron’s task that much harder. 1. The Shadow of Mrs Thatcher. For Cameron this is a double whammy. On one hand there are large sections of the electorate who might warm to the him but would never vote Tory because of continuing hostility caused by the Thatcher years. On the other…

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David Cameron – the strengths and the weaknesses

David Cameron – the strengths and the weaknesses

Part 1 – the polished presenter with female appeal? Before my main holiday I thought I’d pen out a couple of posts on THE political phenomenon of the past twelve months in British politics – David Cameron. Is the billing right that he’s the great saviour of his party or will the Cameron thing just fizzle out in a year or so and Labour will win their fourth term? My first part is on his strengths. First a couple of…

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Why is Gordon not getting the credit for growth?

Why is Gordon not getting the credit for growth?

ICM find that only 37% think he’s created Britain’s economic success The Guardian publishes more data this morning from its August ICM poll and focuses on the Labour’s record generally, and Gordon Brown’s performance in particular, in running the economy for the past nine and a bit years. In findings that might have an impact on the Labour succession the pollster records that those surveyed split by 37%-52% on whether they thought Brown had been responsible for Britain’s economic success….

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Guest Slot: Lewis Baston on the US Mid-Terms

Guest Slot: Lewis Baston on the US Mid-Terms

Will 10% poll margins be enough for the Democrats? It is always election season in the United States. Every second November sees either a Presidential election or important midterm elections that determine control of Congress and other political offices across the country. Currently, the Republicans run both houses of Congress, but the outcome in November 2006 seems in doubt given the unpopularity both of President Bush and Congress. If the Democrats win one or both houses, the implications for the…

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Is this the sight we’ll see after the General Election?

Is this the sight we’ll see after the General Election?

Tories take record 9% lead with ICM After a 24 hours which has seen biting criticism from inside his party at the plans to increase the number of women Tory MPs the ICM Guardian poll for August is out this morning and shows that his party in in a position where it could just have a working majority after the next election. The headline figures with changes on last month are CON 40% (+1): LAB 31% (-4): LDEM 22% (+5)….

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Is Cameron making the female MP issue his Clause 4?

Is Cameron making the female MP issue his Clause 4?

Is he right to push a change on which he could be beaten? Ever since he was elected as leader critics have argued that David Cameron needs to do more than have smart presentation to prove to the electorate that the Tory party has changed. For this, like Tony Blair with Clause Four in the mid-1990s, Cameron has needed an issue on which he can campaign. Today he is to announce moves that could prove to be highly controversial and…

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