Disastrous for Labour, good for the Tories June 7, 2009 IT was a disastrous night for Labour, and an even worse one for Gordon Brown, now a lame duck prime minister who cannot even appoint the cabinet of his choice. But Labour’s crushing defeat – it got just 21.3 per cent of the vote in London, was beaten in Wales by the Tories for the [...]
Disastrous for Labour, good for the Tories June 7, 2009 IT was a disastrous night for Labour, and an even worse one for Gordon Brown, now a lame duck prime minister who cannot even appoint the cabinet of his choice. But Labour’s crushing defeat – it got just 21.3 per cent of the vote in London, was beaten in Wales by the Tories for the [...]
Sugar keen to keep TV role June 7, 2009 SIR ALAN Sugar will take his lead from Andrew Lloyd Webber – created a Tory peer in 1997 – when he hosts major BBC show The Apprentice while serving as a Labour peer, aides to the tycoon remarked to City A.M. yesterday following Tory complaints. A spokesman for Sugar, set to be made Lord Sugar [...]
THE TIPSTER June 7, 2009 THE political chaos that is Westminster is dominating the headlines at the moment: Gordon Brown is clinging to the premiership by a thread while cabinet ministers jump ship and call for his resignation. Whether he’ll go sooner or later, it’s worth taking a punt on how many seats the main parties are likely to win [...]
PURNELL: I QUIT NOW BROWN MUST GO June 4, 2009 GORDON BROWN suffered another devastating blow last night after his work and pensions secretary quit and told him to stand down to save the Labour Party. James Purnell, a rising star and a leading Blairite, became the third cabinet minister to leave Brown’s chaotic government this week and the first to openly call for Brown [...]
LABOUR IN MELTDOWN June 3, 2009 AS VOTERS go to the polls, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is fighting for his political life after cabinet minister Hazel Blears resigned yesterday – just 24 hours ahead of today’s European and local government elections. Communities secretary Hazel Blears is the fourth ministerial departure in 48 hours and the second at cabinet level, after it [...]
Q & A : TODAY’S ELECTIONS June 3, 2009 Q. WHAT IS THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT?A. It is the EU’s only directly elected body. There will be 736 members of the European Parliament (MEPs), of which 72 will come from the UK. Q. WHAT AM I VOTING FOR IN THE EUROPEAN ELECTIONS?A. You vote for a party rather than an individual candidate; individuals at the [...]
JUMPING OFF A SINKING SHIP June 2, 2009 PRIME Minister Gordon Brown’s plans for a cabinet reshuffle have been thrown into disarray with the resignation of five Labour MPs, including three ministers. Home secretary Jacqui Smith, Beverley Hughes, the families minister and cabinet office minister Tom Watson all quit ahead of Brown’s shake-up, which is expected to follow likely heavy defeats for Labour [...]
End of an era as Brown faces disaster June 1, 2009 ALL of Westminster was only talking about one story last night – and for once, it was only indirectly related to MPs’ expenses. I am, of course, referring to the astonishing Ipsos Mori poll showing Labour down 10 points and neck-and-neck with the Liberal Democrats on 18 per cent. The Tories are on 40 per [...]
Labour faces disaster as voting looms May 31, 2009 THE LABOUR party’s European election hopes suffered another blow yesterday, as an opinion poll showed it lagging behind both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats for the first time in 22 years. According to the ICM poll, Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s party is set to suffer a significant defeat in the European elections on Thursday [...]