The other day, an ICM poll came out that put the Tories up by 4. A few weeks ago, there was one that had Labour up by 6. Each time, the political media jumps all over it for signs that one of the two biggest parties is definitively pulling ahead of the other one – […]
The Church of England should really shut up about politics
They CoE has put out a letter to its flock this week, urging congregations to vote in the general election. A lot of it, as Conor Burns put very well, is naïve. But that’s not the worst of it. It tries to tread a careful non-partisan line for a bit, saying that what is needed […]
Labour cried wolf on the NHS three years ago – and could pay the price for it in May
An ICM poll came out yesterday. It revealed that, by a canter, the NHS is still the biggest concern British voters have. It is ranked top by 31% of voters – the next one down, jobs, prices and wages, is put as the chief priority by 17%. This should be a huge bonus for Labour […]
In ten years time, all the Clegg hatred of the last five years will seem bizarre and incomprehensible
In several weeks time, Nick Clegg may no longer be the leader of the Liberal Democrats. I hope he is, because if he remains so that will probably bode well for the Lib Dems. But there are so many different scenarios in which Nick could step down, I have to concede its looming reality. Like […]
The long, boring general election campaign – the Fixed Term Parliament Act’s fault?
There’s a lot of talk in Westminster about how interesting this election is going to be. It’s true – it is shaping up to be the most unpredictable general election in recent memory, and not just in terms of who ends up prime minister in May. The SNP-Labour fight in Scotland; how UKIP will do; […]
Why Boris Johnson scares me
While on a trade mission to America, Boris was asked the kind of questions politicians always get thrown, but almost invariably fumble (to use an Americanism). He was asked to imagine a scenario in which he was in a rescue dinghy that had room for only one more person: which one would he save? David […]
UKIP kicks off its electoral campaign – a launch review
Yesterday, UKIP officially launched its general election campaign. Predictably, Farage gave a speech in a target seat in Essex. He described his party as “the challenger in virtually every seat from Birmingham to Hadrian’s Wall” and later described both Labour and the Conservative parties as “regional” ones, with the Conservatives only able to get seats […]
The Labour “Woman to Woman” bus is sexist – and not because it’s pink
This week, Harriet Harman has spear-headed a movement to get women to vote Labour. It involves taking a sixteen seat van around the country. I know, I don’t get it either. Anyhow, the appearance of the van was criticised on Twitter and throughout the media for being somewhat sexist. This centred on the van’s colour, […]
Is Labour “aggressively pro-business” like Tristram says?
In light of the Tories plan to paint Labour as anti-business, a manoeuvre that any semi-astute watcher of British politics could have predicted in June 2010, Tristram Hunt has been tasked (or taken it upon himself, who knows) to punch back. Excerpts from the Andrew Marr interview Tristram gave on the topic: “I’m enormously enthusiastic […]
Witney is a bit of a dump: a brief examination of why people vote Tory
We drove out to the Cotswolds to stay with some friends over the weekend. On the way, we passed through Witney, which for those who are unaware is David Cameron’s own constituency. Given the fact that it is one of the safest Tory seats in the country, I figured it would be pre-Cotswolds cuteness all […]