We live in strange times. Scandals that would have been once in a presidency type stuff rock the Oval Office every single day. Closer to home, Ed Miliband’s performance in the 2015 general election, which let us remind ourselves involved the Labour Party losing 26 seats and handing the Tories a majority no one thought […]
Why the “leaders debate” last night was so depressing
I have a confession to make: I’ve only watched bits of last night’s debate between Tim Farron, Nicola Sturgeon, Leanne Wood (aka Natalie), Caroline Lucas (apparently, also aka Natalie), and Paul Nuttall. It was simply too depressing to watch the whole thing all the way through. Remember a few years ago when everyone was talking about […]
Why the 2017 general election campaign is a bit like the EU referendum – and not in the way that you think
One of the reasons that I remain convinced that the general election will result in a landslide victory for the Tories – one greater than most pundits are currently predicting – is that on top of everything else going the Tories way, they are also the ones running what appears to be a very effective social media […]
Why the current Labour poll bounce is so good for Theresa May
The Tories face but one hurdle on June 8th: complacency. That thousands upon thousands of people who would vote for the Conservatives could they be arsed to drag themselves to a polling station will figure why bother, May has it in the bag, there’s no way that Corbyn can win. If you were Lynton Crosby, […]
This is the most anti-climactic general election ever, isn’t it?
Usually general elections carry with them some element of frisson. There’s normally an X-factor at play that makes the campaign exciting – at least, if you’re into that sort of thing. 2005 saw questions about how many seats the Lib Dems could take off the back of Iraq (answer: not nearly as many as most […]
Why the “Monsieur Zen” routine is causing long-term damage to the Labour brand (plus, why I’m so mean to Jeremy Corbyn)
I live in Camberwell, in what could be described as Camberwell-Peckham borders (in other words, when I’m applying for a bank account in live in Camberwell; when I want to seem edgy, I live in Peckham). It is, as most of you will know already, an incredibly diverse area, both ethnically and socio-economically. It is […]
How the Left ruined its most attractive feature, somewhere along the way
The traditional wisdom about the left-right axis in western politics is that people feel that the Left’s heart is in the right place, but that they often lack the competence to govern effectively; while the Right are grumpy bastards who may have impure intent, but at least they know how to keep things running properly. […]
How this American football match reminds me of Corbyn’s Labour
Drawing on American football annals for an analogy that works for British politics may seem a stretch for some of you, but stay with me here. In 1916, Georgia Tech faced a college from Tennessee called Cumberland in a football match that lives on in infamy. It will become clear why this is. Cumberland had […]
What Emmanuel Macron becoming president of France means for Britain
In my book, “2017”, I predicted a Le Pen victory yesterday. When I wrote it, Macron had not yet emerged as one of the main contenders. It is amazing for me to think just how much the new president’s election win came from nowhere. Let’s get the boring stuff out of the way: the idea […]
Ignore the hype: yesterday’s result shows a massive Tory landslide is on its way come June 8th
I am far from someone who makes a habit of complaining about the machinations of the Murdoch press swaying elections. But yesterday, Sky News made a projection based on the local election results which have the Tories ending up with 349 seats and Labour 215. In other words, the Conservatives will supposedly take less than […]