Are Tory members complacent or are they justified in their overwhelming view that Gordon Brown will be a less effective leader than Tony Blair? By sixteen-to-one (64% to 4%) those Tory members surveyed by ConservativeHome thought that the Chancellor would be a less effective leader than the outgoing Prime Minister. Other findings: 24% believe that […]
>>> CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE SHORT VIDEO <<< Cameron’s quiet today: "Tory leader David Cameron was unusually coy about his views of Gordon Brown as he visited a green waste recycling plant in his constituency." ————————– PA is reporting a good Newsnight poll: "Prime Minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown is seen […]
Mr Brown’s message: I am going to be Prime Minister for Middle England. When we have more location details we’ll post them. It’s 2.30pm Stevenage and 5.30pm in Basildon. Please don’t go and disrupt these events by holding placards about Gordon Brown’s stealth taxes, pensions raid, working credits fiasco, wasteful public spending, private debt mountain… […]
With Blair widely thought to be announcing his resignation tomorrow, Alan Duncan will today give a speech attempting to assuage any lingering doubts that Gordon Brown is up to his neck in this unpopular government. Speaking to consultancy Sovereign Strategy, his main soundbites will be: "He is not a fresh start: he is the blast […]
ITV1’s Sunday Edition programme won something of a coup this morning when they secured campaign trail interviews with both David Cameron and Gordon Brown. Below are some observations from the interviews but they will probably be remembered for Gordon Brown’s clear indication that he has no indication of calling an early General Election. Location, location, […]
The FT has a crisp new look today and carries an article about the possible line-up of Gordon Brown’s first team. The article follows yesterday’s news that David Miliband will not be challenging Gordon Brown for the Labour leadership. Mr Miliband’s reward, speculates the FT’s James Blitz, might be the office of Foreign Secretary although […]
First Gordon Brown ignored the advice of civil servants and embarked upon his devastating raid on the nation’s pensions. Now we learn from The Sunday Times that he ignored the advice of the Bank of England when, from 1999 to 2002, he sold much of the nation’s gold reserve. His pig-headedness cost the nation an […]
ConservativeHome has decided to nail its colours to the mast and give Michael Meacher its full backing to become Labour’s next leader. His article in today’s Times – ‘No More New Labour’ – spelt out his manifesto: A return to the politics of old-style redistribution; A reversal of Michael Howard’s ‘prison works policy’ through a […]
These are bad times for Gordon Brown. Opinion polls suggest that David Cameron’s lead will grow as soon as he succeeds Tony Blair, his Budget flopped with voters, his nose excavation habits have become a pick of YouTube (thanks to Guido) and his former Cabinet colleague Charles Clarke is desperately organising a leadership challenge to […]
The Conservatives have been quick to jump on the news that Gordon Brown was repeatedly warned by civil servants about the long-term impact of his £5bn-a-year raid on private pension provision. Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Philip Hammond, is seeking an independent inquiry by the Government Actuary to establish the true cost to savers of […]
The category for this post is ‘Countdown to Brown?’ because of the longstanding expectation that the Chancellor will move from Number Eleven to Number Ten when Tony Blair steps down. There is increasingly feverish attempts by the Mandelson-Byers-Clarke-Milburn axis to change that and the only candidate they appear to have is David Miliband. Is that […]
In his column for today’s News of the World (not online), Fraser Nelson says that he knows "quite a few right-wing people" who prefer Brown to Cameron. He writes: "They see the Chancellor as a man who understands economics, hard work and enterprise. And they see the Tory leader as a decadent rich kid, whose […]
As today’s YouGov poll shows – Wednesday’s Budget has not fooled the British people. The Conservative lead is higher since Gordon Brown got to his feet than it was before. Wednesday’s Budget has done nothing to alter the course of the British economy or the growth of the British state. Under Gordon Brown, Britain has […]
Last night we learnt that David Cameron would enjoy a notional lead of 15% if Gordon Brown was Labour leader. If that didn’t upset the Chancellor this morning’s FT must really have got him worked up. Lord Turnbull, who was Mr Brown’s Permanent Secretary at the Treasury for four years before becoming Cabinet Secretary, accuses […]
Nigel Griffiths, Deputy Leader of the Commons, has resigned from the government over Trident, Jim Devine, PPS to the Health Minister, is expected to do the same later this week. Charles Clarke has fuelled infighting by urging David Miliband to stand for the Labour leadership, and deliberately not endorsing Brown. Sir Hayden Phillips appears to […]