Massimiliano morosinotto pa I Nk01 G8 Xk unsplash

Empire of Dirt

With the dust settled on the local elections, all eyes are fixed on this parliament’s next, final, electoral showdown: we are on the downward slope towards a General Election. How the outcome of the last poll affects each party’s planning for the next tells us something about what to expect from them over the next twelve months.

First, Labour. The locals have reassured the Labour Party that this government is as widely despised as opinion polling has implied. The Conservatives remain deeply unpopular and this translates into votes against them. A population that has woken up to the potential of tactical voting, as post-referendum Brits have, can very efficiently maximise hatred for a particular party or outcome. Where Labour was best placed to oust or stop Tories, voters voted for them. Where it was clearly others, others were backed.

Read more
8720773940 ccaca9b03b o 1024x682
June 2nd 2015

You do it to yourself

Between the pomp, the ceremony and the occasional moment of comic farce (google ‘Michael Gove + Prince Philip + Wig + Bag’) it’s sometimes possible to forget that the Queen’s Speech is more than...
Read more
Cameron alone 1024x617
May 18th 2015

Dreaming of a revolution

As he spends the day reshuffling his Cabinet, David Cameron stands unchallenged at the top of English politics, with Miliband and Clegg forever vanquished and Farage’s future uncertain. Sturgeon did well, of course, but...
Read more
Cameron copy
May 8th 2015

Normal service is resumed

David Cameron will now remain Prime Minister and the current Government will carry on, but without the Lib Dems. This result is decisive if still very tight in historical terms. The only person confirmed in...
Read more
Screen Shot 2015 04 27 at 09 51 16 1024x687
April 27th 2015

I can't get no.... Satisfaction!

Two weeks left to go until we find out the result – or, at least, the raw ingredients in terms of seats from which a result must be cooked up. It’s fair to say...
Read more
Screen Shot 2015 04 20 at 11 20 27 1024x725
April 20th 2015

When shall we three meet again?

Last night’s ‘challengers debate’ was a peculiar creature. Five party leaders lined up to rail against a Government that wasn’t even represented. Of course, this was what Cameron and co. had hoped for –...
Read more
Screen Shot 2015 04 13 at 12 15 01 1024x680
April 13th 2015

You take the low road

Last week’s hodge-podge, melee of a debate left most people none the wiser about who was up and who was down – with only Nicola Sturgeon emerging unequivocally improved in her standing and popularity...
Read more