Can Labour’s Viagra firm lobbyist regain Nye’s old seat?

Can Labour’s Viagra firm lobbyist regain Nye’s old seat?

How will he get on against the former steel-works shop steward? Amongst the giants in Labour’s history few can compare with Nye Bevan whose most lasting political achievement, surely, was the creation, against huge opposition, of the National Health Service in the cash-starved Britain in the aftermath of the Second World War. He was born in Tredegar and in 1929 was elected as Labour MP for the Ebbw Vale constituency which are now part of Blaenau Gwent. This will be…

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Sean Fear’s local election commentary

Sean Fear’s local election commentary

Where Do the Liberal Democrats go from here? Since 1997, the Liberal Democrats have regularly polled a national equivalent vote share of 25-30% in local elections, a very good performance historically. What must be frustrating for them is that this has led to no real increase in the proportion of council seats which they hold (around 20% of the overall total). This is because the Conservatives have recovered strongly in local elections over the same period. Throughout the 1980s and…

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Can Heffer hurt Cameron in Bromley?

Can Heffer hurt Cameron in Bromley?

Could the result not be a forgone conclusion after all? So far punters have not got very excited about next Thursday’s by-elections in Bromley and Blaenau Gwent and on the betting markets very little money has been wagered. The Tories look a near certainty to hold onto the outer London seat and there’s does not seem to be much interest in whether Labour can win back its former Welsh stronghold taken by the late Peter Laws in 2005 after the…

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Mike – “Should I risk £10,000 of my pension cash on Gordon?”

Mike – “Should I risk £10,000 of my pension cash on Gordon?”

“..Is 0.38/1 a good investment for part of my lump sum?” Last week I was emailed by JH who is considering whether to bet £10,000 from his pension on Gordon Brown. He’s just retired with an index linked pension based on his final salary and has been looking at ways of getting a good return from his tax free lump sum. JH has been following PB.C for some time and he had come to the conclusion that sometimes, such as…

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The argument thread

The argument thread

This thread is for comments that are not in keeping with my post of yesterday Grandad walloped again by TB at PMQ’s yesterday,also TB managed to highlight the garbage that’s put out in Lib Dem literature at election time. The ‘all things to all people’ stuff is wearing pretty thin and great that its being more & more exposed,on the other hand everyone knows the Lib Dems have a snowball’s chance in hell of ever forming a government so I…

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Can we get back to old-style PB.C discussions?

Can we get back to old-style PB.C discussions?

Do we need to have active moderation? A few days I was round the pub with three fellow Lib Dems who I would describe as serious activists. These are the sort of guys who at election times think nothing of commuting 200-300 miles a day to help in seats where they believe they can make a difference. After we had got the first round in one of the group opened by saying “Come on guys – when is the Cameron…

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Will Labour’s Chameleon stalker bring the women back?

Will Labour’s Chameleon stalker bring the women back?

ICM’s data shows Tories leading by 11 points amongst females On the day Labour launched the next stage of its plan to deal with David Cameron ICM released full data from its June poll showing a big gender divide in support for the parties. Delegates arriving to hear the Tory leader’s “family friendly” speech yesterday were greeted at the door by a man dressed up as a Chameleon handing out leaflets. According to the Times “..the costume is terrific and…

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Tories take biggest ICM lead since 1992

Tories take biggest ICM lead since 1992

..and YouGov trend data gives Cameron more to smile about Today’s June ICM poll in the Guardian has with comparisons on a month ago CON 37 (-1): LAB 32 (-2): LD 21 (+1) and underlines that the Tory position is becoming more robust. Because of its methodology ICM tends to be much less volatile than Mori and the 5 point Tory margin is the biggest the party has enjoyed with the pollster’s Guardian since August 1992 – the month before…

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