General Election 2015: Milifandom vs Cameronettes – who is winning the social media battle? (Answer: It’s much less tight than the real thing) April 22, 2015 Something is happening on Twitter…. are politicians becoming… cool? Possibly. It seems to have started with one Labour-loving AS level student's ambition yesterday to launch a campaign fighting the view that Ed Miliband's image is a problem. https://twitter.com/twcuddleston/status/590583801698463744 Her plan was good. Almost too good: https://twitter.com/Sidra_h92/status/590797834745675776 https://twitter.com/alexshilling/status/590793495692124160 https://twitter.com/twcuddleston/status/590795472962527234 https://twitter.com/twcuddleston/status/590805244206047232 [...]
General Election 2015: Alex Salmond says he’s “writing the Labour Party’s budget” April 22, 2015 David Cameron has tweeted a video of former SNP leader Alex Salmond joking that he is writing the Labour Party's budget. A boisterous Salmond told an audience that when a Scottish Labour politician told Andrew Neil Jim Murphy will not be writing the Labour Party budget, he knew that already because he was the one [...]
Scotland will have a £9.7bn black hole under SNP plans for fiscal autonomy, says IFS April 22, 2015 The SNP suffered a blow to its fiscal credibility this morning, after the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) forecast a £9.7bn black hole in Scotland's finances by the year 2020 if it achieves fiscal autonomy. The independent think tank released the research note the day after Nicola Sturgeon launched her manifesto promising an end to [...]
General Election 2015: How Tony Blair presided over the biggest rise in UK house prices in history April 22, 2015 There's no easy way to say this, but Tony Blair, rather than the likes of Margaret Thatcher or David Cameron, was the Prime Minister who presided over the highest-ever rise in property prices, it turns out. Research from Knight Frank suggests house prices rose a staggering 211.3 per cent during Blair's premiership – higher than [...]
Milifandom Twitter storm: What is it, who started, is it the new Cleggmania April 22, 2015 Ed Miliband has taken a lot of stick over the last five years for not being the most charismatic of political leaders. But the wonders of social media have allowed Ed's fans to amplify their voice and express their devotion without being spun by the gatekeepers of old media. Twitter has exploded with a host [...]
Milifandom Twitter storm: What is it, who started, is it the new Cleggmania TEST April 22, 2015 Ed Miliband has taken a lot of stick over the last five years for not being the most charismatic of political leaders. But the wonders of social media have allowed Ed's fans to amplify their voice and express their devotion without being spun by the gatekeepers of old media. Twitter has exploded with a host [...]
General Election 2015: Grant Shapps denies Wikipedia sock-puppet claims, saying he “was elsewhere” when changes were made April 22, 2015 Conservative party chairman Grant Shapps has denied claims that he edited entries about himself and rival MPs on Wikipedia. Rumours that he was a “sock-puppet” – using a false alias to spread misinformation – have been circulating around the blogosphere for many years. But they resurfaced yesterday when the Guardian reported that Wikipedia had blocked [...]
General Election 2015: Tory divide over campaign attack dog tactics April 21, 2015 David Cameron’s bid to keep the keys to Downing Street is facing friendly fire from some of his own Conservative colleagues. Tory candidates told City A.M. they are anxious about their party’s failure to pull ahead in the polls with just over two weeks to go until the election, with several critical of a negative [...]
General Election 2015: Mastercard’s Ann Cairns wants greater devolution and more technological innovation April 21, 2015 ELECTION COUNTDOWN: 15 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. ANN CAIRNS: PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL MARKETS, MASTERCARD ■ Reduce reliance on cash to drive economic growth – Cash costs [...]
General Election 2015: Nick Clegg’s tax pledge to deter second homes April 21, 2015 Second homeowners could see their tax bills multiply if the Liberal Democrats return to government after the General Election. The Lib Dems want to give local authorities new powers to charge up to 200 per cent council tax on second homes, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg said in a speech in the south west of England [...]