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Month: December 2016

With 2016 drawing to a close the PB/Polling Matters poll of the year

With 2016 drawing to a close the PB/Polling Matters poll of the year

As we approach 2017, Keiran Pedley reviews the winners and losers of the past year and breaks down the 2016 PB/Polling Matters survey results. Earlier this month we conducted the first annual survey of PB readers and Polling Matters listeners. 657 respondents took part and this post looks at some of the results and I give my own perspective too. We asked everyone about their winners and losers of 2016, biggest shocks, defining moments and the thorny issue of the…

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After a Year of Revolt, what’s in store for 2017?

After a Year of Revolt, what’s in store for 2017?

There might well be scares but there won’t be shocks Few would have predicted twelve months ago that Donald Trump would be about to be inaugurated, that Theresa May would be prime minister and that Paul Nuttall would be leader of UKIP. Those who did should have cashed in nicely. There were straws in the wind for all of these (though most would have anticipated a change of UKIP leader after a Remain win, not a Leave), but the odds…

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NEW PETITION calling for everyone to be able to see a GP within 48 hours needs your support

NEW PETITION calling for everyone to be able to see a GP within 48 hours needs your support

2017 will be dominated by Brexit but we shouldn’t lose sight of the real pressures facing our NHS, whatever your politics, writes Keiran Pedley Until 2016, I was typical of many thirty-somethings in that I had little need to see my local GP too often. This year that changed. Due to a recurring issue I found myself having to see the GP more regularly. Nothing critical, I’m fine, but this experience opened my eyes to a real problem and prompted…

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Not long to go until those end of year political bets are resolved

Not long to go until those end of year political bets are resolved

What wagers have you got outstanding? At the end of the biggest political betting year ever we’ve still got pile of wagers to be resolved and that won’t happen until midnight tomorrow night. These are ones relating to whether things will or will not happen during 2016. My main one has been on Article 50 not being invoked during 2016 – a bet that saw a fair bit of activity until TMay’s CON conference speech in October when she announced…

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The Netflix series “The Crown” is a must watch for political junkies

The Netflix series “The Crown” is a must watch for political junkies

For the past few days I’ve watched all ten parts of the “The Crown” – the compelling big budget series from Netflix which centres on the life of the Queen. One you’ve watched the opening minutes of episode one you become hooked and I can heartily recommend it. What makes this particularly appealing from the the political perspective is the portrayal of the monarch’s relations with the prime ministers and the big political developments that it covers. It is written…

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Local By-Election Review 2016

Local By-Election Review 2016

19 of the 26 LD local council gains since BREXIT have been in places which voted LEAVE Votes cast, change on last time, seats won and change on last time for 2016 Labour 147,049 votes (29% +1% on last time) winning 85 seats (-5 on last time) Conservatives 146,074 votes (29% -2% on last time) winning 97 seats (-33 on last time) Liberal Democrats 76,877 votes (15% +4% on last time) winning 50 seats (+27 on last time) United Kingdom…

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Punters make it a 31% chance that the next general election will be in 2017

Punters make it a 31% chance that the next general election will be in 2017

I might be wrong but am yet to be convinced On the UK front next year looks set to be dominated by BREXIT – the process of extracting the UK from the EU. Doing this successfully is set to be the defining act of Theresa May’s premiership and even though the referendum decision was more than six months ago we still have little idea what this is going to mean. The PM has managed to keep up her strategy of…

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The winners under First Past The Post should rigidly adhere to election spending laws

The winners under First Past The Post should rigidly adhere to election spending laws

The chart above is self-explanatory and illustrates clearly how well the electoral system treated the Tories at the last election and how hard it was on the smaller parties particularly UKIP. General elections are won in the marginal constituencies where clearly the parties focus their resources both financial and people. But the law lays down very strict spending limits on how much can be spent by each party within each seat. Parties shouldn’t be able to buy victory simply because…

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