By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter An extensive examination of Labour's strategy and leadership failure is conducted by Dan Hodges (one of the Left's thoughtful commentators) in the New Statesman this week. On the one hand, Labour's policy review is seemingly comprehensive: Labour is currently consulting on as many as 25 separate policy initiatives. Titles […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Labour enjoy a lead in the polls at the moment. The latest poll, for example, gives them a 7 point lead, with the full percentages at: Labour: 42 / Conservatives: 35 / Lib Dems: 10. But as Scotland showed, poll leads can be overturned quickly during a campaign. One […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Following last year's election defeat, there have been two sets of commentators on the left. On the one hand, the all-out, gung-ho "evil Tory cuts!" brigade, and on the other hand, the thoughtful contributors to the debate about Labour (and the left in general)'s future. I should apologise in […]
By Jonathan Isaby Peter Oborne has written a piece for today's Daily Telegraph asserting that that there has been a seismic shift in Labour's attitudes towards the European Union in recent weeks, leading it to take "a new and potent position". He points in particular to two recent interventions: Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls' demand that […]
By Jonathan Isaby The Labour Party yesterday published a consultation document, Refounding Labour, raising many questions about the party's future structure, organisation, and policy-making processes, amongst many other things. It was written by Peter Hain, shadow Welsh Secretary and chair of Labour's National Policy Forum, at the invitation of Ed Miliband, and he includes the following […]
Tim Montgomerie The nation may not have quite decided but I get a sense that the commentariat have decided that Ed Miliband isn't up to the job. There have been some devastating pieces about the Labour leader recently. Iain Martin in today's Mail (scroll down this link) wonders if Saturday's rally was Ed Miliband's William […]
Tim Montgomerie I've used my Sunday Telegraph Q&A column to look at Labour's electoral position. It's bright and sunny here in Salisbury so it might not have been a good day to deploy wintry metaphors but I argue that Labour's support may be as wide and narrow as the icy crust of a frozen lake: […]
Tim Montgomerie Are Labour MPs given a bonus for how many times they accuse Downing Street of "incompetence" in a single interview? In last week's Mail on Sunday James Forsyth explained how painting the Coalition as incompetent is central to Labour strategy: "Labour’s strategy over the past few months has been to paint the Coalition […]
Tim Montgomerie We learnt a little while ago that Ed Miliband had ordered his frontbench to use "Tory-led government" when talking about the Government. Mr Miliband's (new and nasty) head of communications has now made the same request of broadcasters. This is what Mr Tom Baldwin wrote in a letter to the media: "As you […]
Tim Montgomerie Ed Miliband returns to work today after his paternity break. His party is level-pegging in the polls but he hasn't enjoyed any honeymoon since becoming leader. If anything his party is doing slightly worse than before he became leader… despite George Osborne's announcement of spending cuts… despite an average disapproval rating for the […]
By Paul Goodman It should go roughly like this – "Conference, my election as this Party's leader was the greatest moment of my political life. But we have to face the facts – namely, that two out of three parts of our electoral college voted for someone else. And not just any old two parts. […]
By Tim Montgomerie Last night ConHome published Lord Ashcroft's warning that the Labour movement could be a significant drag on Ed Miliband's chances of becoming Prime Minister. Using polling and focus groups Lord Ashcroft (the co-owner of this website) noted that there was a big gap between Labour activists and swing voters on (1) the […]
By Jonathan Isaby Tim noted on Sunday that it will not be easy for Boris Johnson to win a second term as London Mayor, not least because the election will come in May 2012 at a time when the Coalition Government's cuts are biting and anyone donning a blue rosette is liable to suffer the […]
Further to my CentreRight earlier today here, the reason why people laugh at Ed Balls has little do with either his name or his stammer. (See his Daily Mirror piece here.) If you want to know it is, please turn to his article in this morning's Daily Telegraph here. Balls' case is – 1) Raising VAT […]
Shadow Justice Secretary Jack Straw has written an op-ed in the Times today putting the case against the Coalition's proposal to reduce the number of MPs (and equalise the size of constituencies) He writes: "Our Parliament is for sure larger than many other parliaments (for example, the US Congress, the German Bundestag, the French National […]