The election’s lesson for politicians: Stop obsessing about opinion polls May 11, 2015 Very few predicted last week’s election result correctly. In hindsight, it’s easy to see that this was because the vast majority of us became so utterly enthralled by the weekly, if not daily, splurge of opinion polls. And these, of course, proved to be disastrously wrong. The British Polling Council has already launched an independent [...]
Labour must ditch tribalism to reclaim London’s suburbs May 11, 2015 There is no getting away from it: last Thursday’s result was a crushing defeat for the Labour Party. This new era requires a new generation of leaders, who must have a vision that appeals across political and geographical divides, and the ability to reach beyond Labour’s core base. Those who turned away from Labour need [...]
As licence fee critic John Whittingdale is made culture secretary, is this bad news for the BBC? May 11, 2015 Sam Bowman, deputy director of the Adam Smith Institute, says Yes John Whittingdale has described the licence fee as being “worse than a poll tax,” and wants to decriminalise non-payment. That is a good idea: 10 per cent of magistrate court cases are for licence fee non-payment. Every week that means 3,000 people are fined [...]
General Election 2015: Conservative victory is about to give the pound its biggest boost in six years May 11, 2015 The pound is continuing to benefit from the Conservatives' victory in the General Election last week, and is about to achieve its biggest two-day increase against the euro in six years. After it became apparent that Cameron had won a majority on Friday, sterling went up by 1.9 per cent in value, as optimism over [...]
General Election 2015: David Miliband says voters “did not want” what his brother was offering May 11, 2015 David Miliband has openly criticised his younger brother's Labour leadership campaign, saying it was “not what voters wanted.” In an interview with the BBC, he said Ed had allowed himself to “be portrayed as moving backwards from the principals of aspiration and inclusion that are the absolute heart of any successful progressive political project”. [...]
General Election 2015: The best reactions to Nigel Farage’s unresignation May 11, 2015 In his autobiography, The Purple Revolution, Nigel Farage said it was curtains for him if he failed to win in Thanet. "The consequences of me failing to secure a seat for myself in the Commons would be significant for both myself and the party. It is frankly just not credible for me to continue to [...]
General Election 2015: Nigel Farage remains Ukip leader after resignation rejected by party May 11, 2015 Nigel Farage will remain the leader of Ukip – despite handing in his resignation after being defeated in South Thanet in the General Election last week. Ukip members have rejected the leaders attempt to quit because they did not want him to go. "As promised Nigel Farage tendered his official resignation as leader of Ukip [...]
General Election 2015 mapped: How many MPs are women and which party has the most female MPs? May 11, 2015 Britain now has the highest number of female MPs it's ever had – but the UK still lags behind other more equal nations. Of the 650 MPs elected on 7 May, 191 are female, or 29.4 per cent. That compares with 22.6 per cent after the 2010 election The parties Labour is the most gender-neutral [...]
General Election 2015: David Cameron’s Conservative cabinet reshuffle so far – Sajid Javid confirmed as new business secretary as Eric Pickles loses communities and local government role May 11, 2015 Following Friday's fireworks, it's time to get down to business: the Prime Minister has set about forming the first all-Conservative cabinet in 18 years, with Sajid Javid appointed as business secretary, while Iain Duncan Smith has kept the work and pensions gig. Meanwhile, Greg Clark dethroned his boss, Eric Pickles, to become secretary of state [...]
General Election 2015 reshuffle: Chris Leslie is the new Ed Balls as Labour’s shadow chancellor in Harriet Harman’s shadow Cabinet May 11, 2015 It's not just David Cameron putting his cabinet together today. The Labour party may have had an utterly disastrous election, but a shadow cabinet still needs to be formed by the acting leader Harriet Harman – and that's just what she's been up to this morning. Harman has opted to keep the shadow cabinet largely unchanged [...]