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Author: Mike Smithson

Tonight’s Sunak own goal? Blocking the Manchester HS2 link this week

Tonight’s Sunak own goal? Blocking the Manchester HS2 link this week

In just 6 days Tory representatives from all over the UK will be gathering in Manchester for their annual conference. In recent years the city has become one of the regular locations for big conferences and for the Tories it is politically useful to be holding something near where quite a few of their red wall seats gains at the 2019 election are located. Problem this year is the news that has seaped out that Sunak is planning to block…

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Are Sunak’s riches going to be an electoral negative for him?

Are Sunak’s riches going to be an electoral negative for him?

One thing that is becoming more likely is Sunak will be leading the Tories at the general election. In doing so he will probably be the richest person ever to head the party at such a contest. A big question is whether his riches are going to be a negative or a positive. On the one hand they are a mark of his suscess in the past on the other that his life experience is very different from his constituents…

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Trump 12% behind in New Hampshire

Trump 12% behind in New Hampshire

This is the first mention of New Hampshire on a PB thread ahead of the 2024 American presidential election. New Hampshire is always seen as being important because for several decades it has been the first State to hold its Primary. The Iowa, caucuses generally kick off the presidential election but this is not a primary in the way that New Hampshire. Rather lowa has a series of Precinct level meetings throughout the state at which voters give their view…

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Are we reading June’s Uxbridge by-election wrongly?

Are we reading June’s Uxbridge by-election wrongly?

The successful CON defence of Uxbridge on June 23rd is being used by many to raise doubts about current polling and whether the very large LAB leads would actually be there at a general election. All sorts of different explanations have been put forward particularly on the political impact of ULEZ. It only struck me today whilst looking to the October 19th by-elections that there is another more obvious explanation. Like on June 23rd on October 19th LAB is looking…

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The Mid Beds betting remains very tight

The Mid Beds betting remains very tight

I cannot recall a Westminster by-election where the betting has been as tight as we’re seeing in Mid Bedfordshire which takes place in four weeks time. The campaign has been going on a long time. It was in early June that Nadine Dorries announced that she was quitting but only this month did make that official The chart shows what’s happened in the betting on the by-election with Smarkets and as can be seen LAB remains the favourite but only…

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This is complete nonsense from Sunak

This is complete nonsense from Sunak

This would carry bit more force if these moves had actually been proposed which they haven’t. The Tories have just made this up to make a point. To claim they are stopping something that was never on the table is dishonest. I suppose this is what happens when a PM finds himself 20% behind in the polls. Mike Smithson

The Tories are having a bad September in the polls

The Tories are having a bad September in the polls

The return of 20% deficits Over the past week also we have seen some fairly poor polls for the Conservatives. Quite why this is the case is hard to fathom but as each month goes by we are closer to the general election whenever Sunak decides to call it. The governing party increasingly looks very tired and there is a lack of confidence in its communications. If you ask most MPs of all the parties there’s a fairly clear view…

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