David Cameron: Liberal Democrat Slayer

David Cameron: Liberal Democrat Slayer

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For those of us who were Conservative activists in the 1990s and the early 2000s we were often in awe of the Liberal Democrat campaigning efforts. The Liberal Democrat activists would enter an area, secure a foothold on the local council, eventually take control of the council, and in plenty of these areas take the parliamentary seat shortly thereafter. Newbury, Christchurch, Eastleigh, Winchester, and Romsey are seared on the minds of so many. It is one of the reasons the…

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Sending best wishes to PBer JohnO

Sending best wishes to PBer JohnO

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I’m sure PBers will join me in sending our best wishes to JohnO who suffered a cardiac arrest earlier on this month, Esher and Walton Conservatives said last week. Local Conservatives are thankful for all the goodwill messages we received for our colleague County Cllr John O’Reilly after he suffered a cardiac arrest last week. We are pleased to report that John is now making a good recovery in hospital. On Sunday 9 May, only three days after John was re-elected as…

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The Boris vaccination poll “bounce” will evaporate unless those who’ve had both jabs start to see some benefit

The Boris vaccination poll “bounce” will evaporate unless those who’ve had both jabs start to see some benefit

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Undoubtedly the government’s vaccination progress has been a great success and clearly has had a big impact on curbing the spread of COVID amongst the most vulnerable. All the signs are that the vaccines pretty are robust with the new variants as Johnson was boasting about at PMQs on Wednesday. On top of that the real-life efficacy of AZC jab has proved to be far in excess of that achieved in the early trials. So why oh why are those…

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A fascinating insight into the psyche of Britons

A fascinating insight into the psyche of Britons

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I’ve been looking forward to seeing this poll ever since I saw the YouGov polled what animals Americans they think could beat in a fight. The 2/3 per cent of respondents who think they could beat a crocodile, grizzly bear, elephant, or lion remind me of the anecdote that in a survey several years ago 2% of respondents who replied yes to the question ‘Have you ever been decapitated?’ As for the 66% who think they could beat a cat…

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January 6th is what some Republican congressmen are now calling a “tourist visit”

January 6th is what some Republican congressmen are now calling a “tourist visit”

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It is now more than four and a half months since the dramatic events in Washington when supporters of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol building in the effort to stop Congress officially certifying that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election – yet what happened that day looks set to dominate US politics for a long time to come. The latest move is for Congress to create an official inquiry into what happened and, no doubt, Trump would have been…

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Publish and be Damned?

Publish and be Damned?

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2 reports into events long ago: 34 and 26 years. The main protagonists are dead. Should anyone care, as the Today programme put it somewhat indelicately, about one murder so very long ago (Daniel Morgan)? Or even about an interview of a troubled Royal? The latter are two a penny these days. Police competence rather than corruption is a rather more pressing issue. We all know about the press’s dubious and sometimes illegal activities; besides the News of the World…

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The LDs have a better than 6% chance of taking Chesham & Amersham

The LDs have a better than 6% chance of taking Chesham & Amersham

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On the betting exchanges the LDs are currently rated as a 6% chance of winning the Chesham and Amersham by-election which takes place on June 17th. I think this is a value bet. The above rather cheeky Tweet by the party President, Mark Pack, reflects a degree of confidence that follows a period of heavy campaigning and the party’s success in the constituency on May 6th when they took control of Amersham Town Council from the Tories as well as…

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Labour has a bigger problem in seeking power than Scotland: the Midlands….

Labour has a bigger problem in seeking power than Scotland: the Midlands….

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It is often said that Labour has no route to Downing Street without retrieving its former solid bloc of seats north of the border. Or winning back those “Red Wall” seats in the north-west and north-east of England. What is less often remarked upon is that it will not be enough – unless it can also do something about the Midlands. The part of the country which was until recently packed with marginals is fast moving them into safe Conservative…

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