If I were a billionaire member of the House of Lords, I would commission polls that involve 20,000 people, just like Lord Ashcroft. Partly, this would be so I could say “Silence!” like Darth Vader when my chosen pollster said, “but my … Continued
Ed Miliband
Leveson, “Labour for Democracy” and Lib-Lab cooperation
Imagine a political version of a Turing Test: you sit at a computer and type in questions, trying to guess whether the responses that come back from behind a screen are being produced by someone from your political party or … Continued
Prime Minister’s Questions, 8 February
Predictably Labour leader Ed Miliband chose to pressure the Prime Minister on health, writes Adrian McMenamin. Equally predictably the PM avoided answering any of Miliband’s questions – generally about how health professionals have turned their backs on the government’s health … Continued
Prime Minister’s Questions, 25 January
Harold Macmillan (pictured) was supposed to detest Prime Minister’s Questions so much that he was sick before every session. Supermac versus Harold Wilson was surely a real clash of heavyweights, though sadly no audio, never mind film, record exists. David … Continued
Battle is joined over Scotland’s future
This last week has illustrated two points about the forthcoming Scottish referendum on independence – that David Cameron and the Conservative party are in a poor place to lead the pro-UK campaign and that some leadership is better than none … Continued
A Memo for Tim Livesey
I don’t have a great track record of memo-writing. Peter Mandelson once walked into Downing Street and a snapper caught a memo I had written about Labour’s attack strategy in his bundle of papers. Then, last year, a memo for … Continued
It’s the economy (but it’s not that simple)
As Westminster prepares for the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement and the eurozone crisis continues, how are Britain’s parties navigating the politics of slow and no growth, writes Steve Van Riel, political consultant for Centreground Political Communications. When thinking about the 2015 … Continued
Escaping the Westminster bubble
Today’s political reportage will surely be dominated by Ed Miliband’s and David Cameron’s clashes at Prime Minister’s Questions over the Liam Fox affair and the stream of economic bad news. But, outside Westminster, does any of this have much impact? … Continued