General Election 2015: Ed Miliband promises to cut energy prices before winter returns March 13, 2015 Labour will give Ofgem the power to enforce energy price reductions if it wins the general election. Ed Milliband will promise today that his party will cut energy bills by up to 10 per cent by the end of the year, and will empower Ofgem, the energy sector regulator, to review prices by the end [...]
Take the long view – bet on a new home before the election March 12, 2015 Savvy investors have been making bold decisions in downturns for centuries. For me, it seems only natural to buy when the market has hit a low, whether during a recession or in the lead up to a crucial event like a General Election. Contrary to what some think, the property market has not ground to [...]
General Election 2015: Unemployment is driving some young voters from the Conservatives to Labour March 12, 2015 Some young people who voted for the Conservatives in the last general election are choosing to vote Labour this time, according to Reuters. The news agency spoke to a sample of first-time voters in 2010, and tracked them down again this month to find out how their opinions had changed in the run up to [...]
2015 General Election TV debates: Broadcasters won’t empty chair David Cameron – they’ve good commercial reasons not to March 11, 2015 The extended row over the proposed TV election debates has reached a deadlock. David Cameron has said he will take part in just one, but the broadcasters (supported by Tory opponents) are committed to running three. What will break this impasse? In my view, commercial factors will force the UK’s broadcasters to give up their [...]
Lord Mandelson doubts Labour can win the General Election March 11, 2015 The man who helped rebrand the Labour party and turn it into an election winning machine doubts his party can secure a majority at this year's General Election. Lord Peter Mandelson told the Retail Week conference: There will almost certainly be a stalemate hung Parliament in two months' time. Given the state of the polls, [...]
General Election 2015: Third of young people say social media will influence their vote March 11, 2015 There is a strong tradition of British elections adopting some of the more cutting edge political trends seen in the US. Labour and the Tories have both hired top political strategists from the Obama team to add a little stardust to the campaigns. Social media is also in the political parties' sights and rightly so, [...]
General Election 2015: Business leaders speak out: Labour (still) isn’t working – Brand Index March 10, 2015 The General Election is almost upon us and polls show the public believes that if the Tories win, its business policies would be better than Labour’s for the economy. But what about the business community itself? Using YouGov’s Business Omnibus, and interviewing high-profile decision makers, 81 per cent thought Conservative measures would be good for [...]
How to save £50bn: Bold cuts to state spending will deliver prosperity for all March 10, 2015 Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has accused the Conservatives of planning “extreme” spending cuts if they get into Downing Street after the election. But there’s no way we can know whether the Tories’ plans are extreme or not, because they haven’t given any real details on what they will cut or by how much. And Balls’s [...]
Ed Miliband doesn’t get incentives – and it could cost his party Scotland March 10, 2015 Ed Miliband has long had a problem with voters not perceiving him as “normal”. His famous struggle with a bacon sandwich in some ways says it all. But at a much more important level, he seems to have little or no empathy with one of the most fundamental of human motivations. The most profound insight [...]
Ukip voters most likely to think apocalypse will happen in their lifetime March 10, 2015 Ukip voters are more likely to believe that world as we know it will end in their lifetime than supporters of the mainstream parties, according to a new survey. Almost a third of Ukip voters told polling company YouGov that an apocalyptic disaster will strike in their lifetime. This compares to 23 per cent of [...]