Leaders’ Question Time special: What happened, who won, who lost, what did we learn? May 1, 2015 Three main party leaders faced an onslaught of questions and criticism from the public last night in the last big TV event of the General Election. David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg put their case to the country in front of a BBC Question Time audience in the hope of breaking the deadlock in [...]
Ed Miliband: I’d rather give up No. 10 than do SNP deal April 30, 2015 Labour leader Ed Miliband unequivocally ruled out a deal with the SNP last night, telling an audience in Leeds that he would rather give up the keys to Downing Street than team up with Nicola Sturgeon after 7 May. “If it meant we weren’t going to be in government, not doing a coalition, not doing a [...]
General Election 2015: Time to wake up – this vote matters – Editor’s Letter April 30, 2015 I don’t understand people who believe this campaign has been interesting. Day after day we have pored over motionless polls. Any hope of intelligent debate has long been drowned out by the relentless hammering of talking points. Interesting? Outside the bubble of Newsnight-devotees, too much politics still sends most people to sleep. In 2010, the [...]
General Election 2015: Tungsten Corp CEO Edmund Truell wants more help for small businesses and the privatisation of NHS care provision April 30, 2015 ELECTION COUNTDOWN: 6 DAYS TO GO Every day until the final week of the election campaign, we ask a business leader to say what policies would entice them to vote for a particular party. EDMUND TRUELL: CEO, TUNGSTEN CORP Next week’s General Election promises to be the closest we have seen for [...]
Foxtons warns of sales slowdown as home buyers await General Election outcome April 30, 2015 London estate agency Foxtons warned that the General Election had put the brake on sales as prospective homebuyers await the outcome of next week’s polls before making plans. The company, famous for its fleet of Green Mini Coopers, reported revenues of £33.1m in the three months to 31 March, down 3.1 per cent on [...]
General Election 2015: Property experts play down ballot box fears April 30, 2015 General Elections past and present have had little effect on the UK’s commercial property market, economists at property advisory firm Colliers have claimed, arguing that investors are more pre-occupied with the timing of the first UK interest rate hike. Colliers’ economist and research director Walter Boettcher said a study of the UK’s 2001, 2005 and [...]
London’s General Election: Isle of political dog fights – battle for Poplar and Limehouse at the edge of the City April 30, 2015 A council estate in the East End is not exactly what you envisage as a typical Tory heartland. But on the Isle of Dogs, in the shadow of the financial district, Conservative General Election candidate Chris Wilford is leading an insurgency he hopes one day will make it so. His is a rebellion triggered by [...]
General Election 2015: The three bold productivity-boosting policies the Big Three will never touch April 30, 2015 As we approach the General Election, politicians are battling over the question of what is wrong with Britain’s economy. The usual suspects are out in force: “benefit-scroungers”, “fat cat bosses”, “price gouging energy companies” to name but a few. What I find frustrating is the lack of substance behind many of these arguments. Rarely is [...]
Competitiveness: The black hole at the heart of the General Election debate April 30, 2015 With less than a week of election campaigning left, the issue of competitiveness has been notable by its absence. As it’s the foundation for long-term prosperity, I would like to see the political parties championing this cause. Being fans of evidence-based debate, we reviewed the major parties’ manifestos and found just a handful of mentions [...]
General Election 2015: Latest poll gives Conservatives five point lead over Labour April 30, 2015 The Conservatives are gaining momentum ahead of next week's General Election. The party is now five points in the lead with 35 per cent support, compared to 30 per cent for opposition party Labour, according to the latest pre-election poll published by Ipsos MORI, With less than seven days to go, competition is intensifying [...]