Is Charles Clarke the man to tell Blair to go?

Is Charles Clarke the man to tell Blair to go?

Should the “men in grey suits do their duty”? After all the pressure on Tony Blair over the “loans for honours” row yesterday’s budget must have felt like a welcome respite. But this morning the left-wing magazine, the New Statesmen, joins the growing list of newspapers and magazines which are calling for an early Tony Blair departure. This is not yet available online but according to Newsnight it says that “the men in grey suits must do their duty” –…

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Budget betting: Tories progress while Blair wobbles

Budget betting: Tories progress while Blair wobbles

There’s been very little reaction on the various betting markets to today’s Budget. The only real movement was on the Tories for the General Election and whether Tony Blair will survive another 21 months. As the chart illustrates the immediate reaction was that the chances of Blair staying until the end of next year declined sharply immediately after Gordon Brown sat down but prices recovered soon afterwards. On the who will win most seats General Election market there was a…

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At last – the Gordon & David Show

At last – the Gordon & David Show

Whose career prospects will look better tonight? This afternoon’s budget looks set to become the first one for many decades when there’ll be almost as much interest in the response of the Leader of the Opposition as in the contents of the Chancellor’s statement itself. For this will be the first time that David Cameron has faced Gordon Brown across the floor of the House in what is likely to be a foretaste of things to come. How will Brown’s…

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Labour supporters stay loyal to Tony

Labour supporters stay loyal to Tony

The bad headlines are barely having an impact Even though he is under the most intensive media pressure the detailed numbers, just out, from Sunday’s YouGov poll show that those planning to vote Labour are overwhelmingly loyal to the triple General Election winner Tony Blair. A total of 85% think Tony Blair is doing well in the job – only two points below the way Tory supporters are rating David Cameron. The Labour supporters disagree by 41-34 with the suggestion…

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The Monday Guest Slot – Nick Palmer MP

The Monday Guest Slot – Nick Palmer MP

HOW DO PARTIES CHANGE? “How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?” A: Only one. But the lightbulb has to *want* to change. It’s my second-favourite light bulb joke (I’ll work the favourite in later), but I wanted to introduce a thread on why political parties change, and how, and why not. The first thing to bear in mind is that people generally join political parties because they like them as they are. Sometimes people join because…

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We’re back with the YouGov-ICM divide

We’re back with the YouGov-ICM divide

.. YouGov has Labour 3% behind while ICM shows a 4% lead In much of the period leading up to the 2005 General Election the UK’s two major polling organisations were showing very different pictures of the way the public were thinking. Alas by polling day findings from the two firms almost converged and it was hard to draw a significant conclusion about their respective methodologies. Today a telephone survey by ICM in the SundayTelegraph has LAB 37: CON 33:…

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The money goes on an early Blair departure

The money goes on an early Blair departure

Now just 3.2/1 that he’ll be gone by the end of June The “honours for loans” crisis in the immediate aftermath of the Education bill rebellion and the Tessa Jowell issues has caused a sharp move on the “When will Blair go?” betting markets. The above chart shows the implied probability of him leaving Downing Street in the period April-June on the Betfair betting exchange. For the first time, bookmakers William Hill reckon that Tony Blair is most likely to…

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Sean Fear’s local election commentary

Sean Fear’s local election commentary

What would be a good result for the Tories on May 4th? Traditionally, winning more than 40% of the vote nationwide has been regarded as the benchmark for a successful opposition party. However, that seems too high a hurdle now that the Lib Dems typically win 25% + of the vote in national elections, and an increasing share of the vote goes to a variety of minor parties. I would suggest that the Conservatives have to obtain at least 38%…

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