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Month: August 2006

David Cameron – the strengths and the weaknesses

David Cameron – the strengths and the weaknesses

Part 1 – the polished presenter with female appeal? Before my main holiday I thought I’d pen out a couple of posts on THE political phenomenon of the past twelve months in British politics – David Cameron. Is the billing right that he’s the great saviour of his party or will the Cameron thing just fizzle out in a year or so and Labour will win their fourth term? My first part is on his strengths. First a couple of…

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Why is Gordon not getting the credit for growth?

Why is Gordon not getting the credit for growth?

ICM find that only 37% think he’s created Britain’s economic success The Guardian publishes more data this morning from its August ICM poll and focuses on the Labour’s record generally, and Gordon Brown’s performance in particular, in running the economy for the past nine and a bit years. In findings that might have an impact on the Labour succession the pollster records that those surveyed split by 37%-52% on whether they thought Brown had been responsible for Britain’s economic success….

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Guest Slot: Lewis Baston on the US Mid-Terms

Guest Slot: Lewis Baston on the US Mid-Terms

Will 10% poll margins be enough for the Democrats? It is always election season in the United States. Every second November sees either a Presidential election or important midterm elections that determine control of Congress and other political offices across the country. Currently, the Republicans run both houses of Congress, but the outcome in November 2006 seems in doubt given the unpopularity both of President Bush and Congress. If the Democrats win one or both houses, the implications for the…

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Is this the sight we’ll see after the General Election?

Is this the sight we’ll see after the General Election?

Tories take record 9% lead with ICM After a 24 hours which has seen biting criticism from inside his party at the plans to increase the number of women Tory MPs the ICM Guardian poll for August is out this morning and shows that his party in in a position where it could just have a working majority after the next election. The headline figures with changes on last month are CON 40% (+1): LAB 31% (-4): LDEM 22% (+5)….

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Is Cameron making the female MP issue his Clause 4?

Is Cameron making the female MP issue his Clause 4?

Is he right to push a change on which he could be beaten? Ever since he was elected as leader critics have argued that David Cameron needs to do more than have smart presentation to prove to the electorate that the Tory party has changed. For this, like Tony Blair with Clause Four in the mid-1990s, Cameron has needed an issue on which he can campaign. Today he is to announce moves that could prove to be highly controversial and…

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Reid soars ahead of Cameron on YouGov’s BrandIndex tracker

Reid soars ahead of Cameron on YouGov’s BrandIndex tracker

Home Secretary’s “positive impression” rating up 15% in eleven days The latest YouGov BrandIndex data published on the UK Polling Report site shows a massive boost for the Home Secretary, John Reid (GREEN) since he came to prominence over his handling of the alleged terror plots. As can be seen from the chart he is well ahead of his potential Labour leadership rival, Gordon Brown (BROWN) and now enjoys poll ratings ahead of the Tory leader, David Cameron (BLUE), whose…

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Mori: 56% want Blair out by the end of the year

Mori: 56% want Blair out by the end of the year

Brown has 7% lead on Cameron on being a “capable PM” The Sunday Times this morning features a Mori poll on immigration and leader ratings but without a voting intention question and without using the measures other pollsters employ to ensure that their samples are politically representative. The most significant finding is that 47% of those surveyed think that Tony Blair should go immediately with 56% wanting him out before the end of the year. This is by far the…

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Could Blair face a challenge at next month’s conference?

Could Blair face a challenge at next month’s conference?

The Independent reports left-wing moves to press for an election A report by Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor of the Independent, this morning says that “..demands for Tony Blair to quit over his support for US President George W Bush in the Middle East are to be taken to Labour’s annual conference next month in a direct challenge to his leadership by left-wing Labour campaigners.” He says that all constituency Labour parties are being sent an emergency resolution calling for…

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