You may not be at all aware of it, but within the confines of the Conservative Party there exists a concerted effort to hold onto David Cameron as leader of the party. The severity of the loyalty to the current leader ranges: from a sort of, he must be kept in situ if there’s a […]
Why aren’t the Tories ahead in the polls?
We are now a little over two months from polling day. At this point, comparing the two main parties’ election campaigns is like reading about a Netherlands-San Marino World Cup qualifying football match – so one-sided as to make you feel sorry for the bunch getting walloped. For while the Tories have run an extremely […]
Nigel Farage hits America – a review of that and the UKIP conference he ended up missing most of as a result
UKIP spring conference is underway. Or it might be over – it’s difficult to tell with UKIP spring conference. Anyhow, this year the big story was Nigel’s absence. He turned up rather late as a result of having been in America for the Conservative Political Action Conference. For those who have never been to one […]
I don’t understand the logic – or the politics – around Labour’s £6k tuition fee announcement
Ed Miliband is giving a speech in Leeds today, outlining Labour’s tuition fee policy. In the usual Miliband way, it is heavy with hyperbole. “This is a disaster for them and a disaster for the future of Britain too – a country where the next generation is doing worse than their parents is the definition […]
The Labour plan to win over Lib Dem voters disenchanted with the Coalition can now be declared a failure
Yesterday’s YouGov poll put the Conservatives on 35, Labour on 33, Lib Dems 6, UKIP 14, Greens 7. The Tory lead is nothing to shout about at this stage; Labour could very well be up tomorrow, such is the nature of daily polling. However, I feel confident enough now to say that what was a […]
Caroline Lucas has been busy making things worse for Natalie Bennett – and the Green Party
The past month cannot have been amongst the easiest to get through in the life of Natalie Bennett. A series of bloodbath interviews, which amongst the most notable should have been the Andrew Neil Daily Politics one at the end of last month, but which has now been well and truly eclipsed by the LBC […]
Are there such things as “silent Lib Dem” voters?
I was having a drink with a friend of mine who works for a pollster recently and we started talking about the “silent Tory” phenomenon I’ve written about previously. He wasn’t so sure about this being relevant in 2015 (I should disclose, he’s a Labour supporter), and disputed any comparison between this coming election and […]
Ashcroft reveals that UKIP are behind in every constituency he polled – the reporting of which demonstrates the Left’s confusion over Farage’s party
You know times are weird when the Daily Mail is the lone voice of reason in the political media on something. “Blow for Farage as polls reveal Ukip is poised to lose ALL its key marginal battles against the Tories” reads their headline for a story revealing that in four of UKIP’s targets, UKIP are […]
Liz Kendall: next leader of the Labour party?
Recently, I joked in an article that the next leadership contest within the Labour party could be between Chuka Umunna and a weathered copy of “The Communist Manifesto”, demonstrating facetiously my lack of faith in the depth of talent contained within the parliamentary Labour party. However, there is one frontbencher who has of late begun […]
David Cameron’s Labour-SNP messaging is classic Cameron: short-term gain, long-term nightmare
The Prime Minister has given a speech in Edinburgh this week in which he outlined what’s going in Scotland with Labour and the Nats as he sees it: “The SNP and Labour are halfway up the aisle together already. They’ve picked out the wedding list. They’ve booked the honeymoon, probably in North Korea. They’ve set […]