The following is a small excerpt from my book, “2017”, available now in digital form and paperback. Is a free trade deal between the US and the UK a genuine possibility? The Tories better hope it is. Because from where we currently stand, I see only two ways out of Brexit not being a very […]
The 2020 general election will be about who can hoover up the ex-Labour vote – how well placed are the Lib Dems, really?
One thing is pretty much certain: the Labour vote is going to go down and the Tory vote up from where they both were in the 2015 general election when the next GE comes around. It’s a matter of how much, really. Labour could go down 5% nationally – or 10%, or even more. The […]
When Labour loses the next general election, will Corbyn stay on as leader or step down?
I first thought about making the first word of the headline “if”, but then figured why bother, let’s get real here. I should also confess that the impetus for this article is a conversation I had this week with a friend of mine, Tim Barnes, who I should also by way of disclosure reveal is […]
The Left – or what is left of it (a “2017” excerpt)
The following is a small excerpt from my book, “2017”, available now in digital form and paperback. How much is it the fault of the Left that the rise of the New Right has taken place? In some sense, it is entirely the fault of the Left. After the 2008 crash, the Left became bizarrely […]
This one Daily Telegraph article tells you everything you need to know about why UKIP never succeeded as a political party
There is a live debate around whether Stoke Central was UKIP’s Waterloo or not. I have thrown my hat into the ring already, saying that I think it was; however, such a declaration was not made without a certain amount of nervousness on my part. UKIP have been written off by the cognoscenti many times […]
Which Labour MPs might throw in the towel next? I speculate
A few months back, when Jamie Reed and Tristram Hunt both decided to stop being MPs around a similar time period, a rumour was afloat in Westminster that “dozens” of Labour members of parliament were lined up to quit politics should either Copeland or Stoke Central be lost. Since the first part of that has […]
Corbyn just screwed over Scottish Labour to add to the mix
I like Kezia Dugdale. I think she is trying her best in a bad situation – and getting less than no help. Anyone within Scottish Labour calling for her to go should look at the bench and see she is far and away the best option right now as leader. On that no help thing – I […]
How Brexit became everything – a “2017” except
The following is a small excerpt from my book, “2017”, available now in digital form (http://amzn.to/2lXBAdp) and paperback (http://amzn.to/2kYXmhh). Why did Britain vote to leave the European Union on June 23rd, 2016, in a nutshell? Like any election victory of any kind, the Leave vote was a big tent of different interests who rallied together […]
“Road to Brexit” by Jeremy Corbyn – a review
Yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn gave a speech in Westminster yesterday about, well, the road to Brexit. Coming on the same day that the loss of Copeland was announced, it took on an interesting texture. Introducing the event was Sergei Stanishev, a Bulgarian MEP who is the president of the Party of European Socialists. I think perhaps Labour […]
The four key lessons from Copeland and Stoke Central
1.Labour are really screwed. I mean, really screwed In a seat that had basically been Labour since 1924, Copeland was a major loss for Corbyn’s crew, whatever certain quarters might tell you. Stoke Central was held in the end, but only due to Labour’s vastly superior ground campaign. The Tories realised too late in the […]