Number 10’s power-grab is sowing the seeds of its own failure

Number 10’s power-grab is sowing the seeds of its own failure

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Cummings cannot re-engineer government while ignoring the human aspect Political power is notoriously nebulous. Like fairies, or the value of fiat money, if enough people belief in it, that in itself is enough to call it into being – just as the lack of belief is enough to destroy it. What then gives Boris Johnson the ability to accrete to himself and his advisors in Number Ten powers that no other prime minister has enjoyed? It’s not the size of…

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Irish General Election 2020 : Results & Review (Part Two : G – L Constituencies)

Irish General Election 2020 : Results & Review (Part Two : G – L Constituencies)

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It has now been nearly a week since the Irish General Election took place on the 8th of February 2020 and we are still no further on to getting a Dáil government elected. It was pretty much a three way tie with Micheál Martin’s Fianna Fáil on 38 seats, Mary Lou McDonald’s Sinn Féin on 37 seats and Leo Varadkar’s Fine Gael on 35 seats. Who is going to be the next Taoiseach and which parties will form the coalition?…

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With the LAB leadership nomination stage coming to an end punters are getting a tad nervous about Starmer

With the LAB leadership nomination stage coming to an end punters are getting a tad nervous about Starmer

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Today marks the end of the second stage of LAB’s leadership election – the period when CLPs and affiliated organisations have made their nominations. As can be seen from the betting chart everything appeared to be going right for ex-DPP and Shadow BrexSec, Keir Starmer. Four days ago he reached his peak in the betting a 90% chance. That’s now started to edge down and as can be seen he’s now at 84%. It is hard to say what’s driving…

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How the papers are treating the Javid sacking

How the papers are treating the Javid sacking

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This is Danny Finkelstein’s conclusion in his Times column today: “……. if the way No 10 intends to bring the chancellor and prime minister together is by taking over No 11, this is unlikely to work. Even if the new chancellor does not have his own special advisers, he will have his own department, his own departmental position, his own department’s interests and his own status. Over the centuries, the Treasury has shown repeatedly that it is not easily brought to heel.“…

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Sunak moves to the top Tory in the next PM betting

Sunak moves to the top Tory in the next PM betting

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But Starmer is the clear favourite After today’s reshuffle the main betting movement has been on the next PM betting where the new Chancellor Sunak has replaced Javid as the top Tory. Javid, who is no longer a cabinet minister is now out to 30 with Gove being the second highest Tory. Interestingly the occupants of the main offices of state, Patel and Raab, are much further behind. In this market, of course, we should expect the Labour leader to…

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Rishi Sunak – the PB 200/1 tip to be next PM – gets the Chancellor’s job in Boris’s reshuffle

Rishi Sunak – the PB 200/1 tip to be next PM – gets the Chancellor’s job in Boris’s reshuffle

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At the end of November Philip Thompson had a guest slot here suggesting that the MP who who took over William Hague’s old seat at Richmond in Yorkshire was a good bet to be the next PM. I was one of many PBers who got on at that price with Ladbrokes and have a clear financial interest in Sunak’s future, Well the big news from the reshuffle is that Javid was not ready to accept the terms for him to…

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Bloomberg moves upwards in the WH2020 Dem nomination betting

Bloomberg moves upwards in the WH2020 Dem nomination betting

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The big development continues to be the growing betting support for multi-billionaire and former Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, who is self funding his campaign to win the nomination and to beat Trump. He’s built up an organisation that totally dwarfs what the remaining contenders have been able to mount and is spending huge amounts particularly in the March 3rd “Super Tuesday” states that include California and Texas. One report says Bloomberg is spending $1m a day just on…

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Irish General Election 2020 : Results & Review (Part One : C & D Constituencies)

Irish General Election 2020 : Results & Review (Part One : C & D Constituencies)

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A general election never fails to excite or interest us and there was simply no inception here. The main talking points were Health, Homelessness & Housing (they must like or dislike the letter “H” in Ireland). Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael & Sinn Féin are the main three parties, but who will win and where did they go wrong? Find out below!Carlow / Kilkenny (Quota = 12,274)As expected Kathleen (Sinn Féin) got elected here, although I didn’t expect her to win. John…

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