Gordon Brown has told the Commons that he wants to deliver a new "constitutional settlement" for the British people: He promised twelve transfer of powers from the Prime Minister and the Executive to Parliament – including the Executive’s powers to declare war, request the dissolution of Parliament and key public appointments (including the Governor of […]
In justifying his resignation from the Conservative Party Quentin Davies listed a number of criticisms of, and personal grievances with, David Cameron. He said very little, however, about why he had joined Labour rather than go independent. He’s attempted to do that in an article for the New Statesman today: New Labour: "In a sense […]
Later today Gordon Brown will speak to the Commons about his plans for Constitutional reform. The BBC predicts that he is likely to propose a British bill of rights and to give Parliament the decisive say on going to war and on the scrutiny of more political appointments. These are all ideas also associated in […]
On the Today programme this morning Edward Leigh and Michael Portillo unsurprisingly offered diametrically opposed perspectives on the direction the Party should be going in. Commenting on Brown’s bounce Leigh said: "The way that we fight back is to show that we are not weak, we are not driven by PR, we are a party […]
As warned yesterday evening, two opinion polls this morning will put a smile on Gordon Brown’s face. An ICM poll for The Guardian* gives Labour a 4% lead and YouGov for The Daily Telegraph* puts the Labour lead at 3%. I cannot find any below-the-headline-detail within The Guardian coverage but there is additional information from […]
8pm update: The YouGov/ Telegraph survey gives Labour a 38% to 35% advantage and Brown a 12% advantage over Cameron on best Prime Minister. An ICM survey for tomorrow’s Guardian will put the Labour Party four points ahead (39% to 35%) and there’ll be a YouGov poll for The Telegraph that is also expected to […]
Thanks for your reply to my opening post of yesterday. Because I agreed with just about everything you wrote and in the light of today’s aborted bomb attack I thought we should shift our exchange to how the Tories should respond to Brown on homeland security and – furthermore – how the Tories can show […]
‘In comes Brown… income taxes’ is the message on conservatives.com this morning and the graphic on the right (click it to enlarge it) is an encouragement to donate to the Conservative Party. Click here if you want to give. Another way you can help is to join the new Campaign Together email list. I signed […]
In the first of a series of exchanges between Tim Montgomerie, Editor of ConservativeHome, and Matthew d’Ancona, Editor of The Spectator, Tim suggests some first steps for Project Cameron in ‘the Brown era’. I’m glad to be doing this exchange of thoughts with you again and many congratulations on the Coffee House blog. It’s quickly […]
5.08pm: Ian Austin and Angela Smith will be Brown’s Parliamentary Private Secretaries. 5.06pm: Baroness Scotland is the new Attorney General, and Lord Grocott is Lords Chief Whip and Captain of the Gentlemen at Arms 4.57pm: As well as having a Minister for the North, ministers have been appointed to adopt regions. Caroline Flint and Liam […]
David Cameron writes for The Sun this morning and tackles him on four key areas: The need for a referendum on the new EU Treaty. Describing Tony Blair’s agreement with other European leaders as a "sell-out" Mr Cameron says that the new EU foreign policy apparatus puts our relationship with America at risk. , He […]
ROLLING BLOG CONTINUES ABOVE 11.24am: Jacqui Smith looks like she’ll almost certainly be the first female Home Secretary. 11:17am: James Purnell, who has been a familiar face in the media recently, replaces Tessa Jowell as Culture, Media & Sport Secretary – a brief the former BBC man has been an adviser to Blair on. It’s […]
There is a lot of blog-fuelled speculation about another defector to Camp Brown. A lot of it is focusing on John Bercow but he has denied that he intends to defect. Sam Coates of The Times (who has been blogging fascinating stuff all day) does suggest, however, that Gordon Brown might invite the Conservative MP […]
CCHQ has greeted Prime Minister Gordon Brown with this press release: "Gordon Brown has today tried to bury details of over £100,000 of political donations to his leadership campaign from a raft of rich businessmen and trade unions. While attention has been focused on the change of Prime Minister, an obscure file lodged with the […]
"Tony Blair’s remarkable achievement" – not a headline you’ll see again soon on conservatives.com