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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Corporeal asks What will UKIP look like the rest of the way

SystemSystem Posts: 11,700
edited October 2014 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Corporeal asks What will UKIP look like the rest of the way?

It seems likely that we are on the edge of a new stage in UKIP’s existence, with Douglas Carswell looking likely to become the party’s second MP (Bob Spink’s legacy as the answer to that political trivia question is safe) and the first to be elected as a UKIP candidate.

Read the full story here


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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,787
    First!
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    SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    edited October 2014
    Cheers Corporeal – presumably you are anticipating a fractious relationship between Carswell and Farage as the former begins to hog the limelight? - If so, it would have been informative for the reader to mention Carswell’s principle conflicts with UKIP policy, if any.

    OT

    @Sun_Politics: YouGov/Sun poll tonight - Labour ahead by one point: CON 33%, LAB 34%, LD 7%, UKIP 14%

    Clegg’s conference ‘bounce’ proving as elusive as ever (-1), perhaps it will appear tomorrow?
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    fitalassfitalass Posts: 4,279
    Third... And in other news. I would like to report a fault to the site after catching up with yesterday's threads. My irony meter completely blew a major fuse when I came across this comment from @___Bobajob___ - "You really are sanctimonious. Give it a rest."
    Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
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    RodCrosbyRodCrosby Posts: 7,737
    A couple of more records if Carswell wins...

    The first time since Isle of Ely, 1973 that the victorious party had not contested the previous election (in an English seat).

    Also the first time since Lincoln, 1973 that the incumbent MP had been successfully re-elected after calling a by-election to ratify a change of party (and only the 4th time in the past 100 years)
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,787
    I think Nigel's clever double act of appealing to disaffected Tories and Labour will be made progressively more difficult with each TV interview "UKIP's only MP" gives.....
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,151
    edited October 2014

    I think Nigel's clever double act of appealing to disaffected Tories and Labour will be made progressively more difficult with each TV interview "UKIP's only MP" gives.....

    Disagree - Carswell is very clever and agile and has a wide appeal. The trick is that he combine libertarianism with localism, which gives you a courageous, principled justification for pretty much any position you could possibly want to take on anything. (Freedom! Get the governent out of the way! Ban people from building houses in Clacton!)

    A bigger problem is Reckless, who just looks like a regular right-wing Tory.
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,787

    I think Nigel's clever double act of appealing to disaffected Tories and Labour will be made progressively more difficult with each TV interview "UKIP's only MP" gives.....

    Disagree - Carswell is very clever and agile and has a wide appeal.

    A bigger problem is Reckless, who just looks like a regular right-wing Tory.
    A wonk with appeal! Someone Ed could learn from. It will be interesting to see whether the fabled "Anti-Tory party" has a UKIP offshoot.....

    Nigel has a general problem in maintaining his double act - I don't think having a principled MP will help, however agile he is - and of course Labour will now have plenty of "they're just Tories really" ammunition.

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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,787
    YOUGOV Who would make best PM:

    Cameron lead vs Miliband: +19 (+3)

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    FinancierFinancier Posts: 3,916

    YOUGOV Who would make best PM:

    Cameron lead vs Miliband: +19 (+3)

    Only 56% of LAB VI support EdM.
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    DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    Financier said:

    YOUGOV Who would make best PM:

    Cameron lead vs Miliband: +19 (+3)

    Only 56% of LAB VI support EdM.
    GE2015 is shaping up as a test of whether we vote for presidents or parties.
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    audreyanneaudreyanne Posts: 1,376
    fitalass said:

    Third... And in other news. I would like to report a fault to the site after catching up with yesterday's threads. My irony meter completely blew a major fuse when I came across this comment from @___Bobajob___ - "You really are sanctimonious. Give it a rest."
    Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

    Haha!

    Good thread. Interesting times ahead. This victory will propel UKIP further from the shadows into the limelight, with all that entails. No longer will they be just a fringe protest party, but be accountable in Parliament. When the media Westminster machine rolls on College Green, will it be Farage or their MP Carswell who speaks? When the froth subsides on Farage's breakfast pint the time for UKIP to be taken seriously will have arrived. And that's a two-edged sword.
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    audreyanneaudreyanne Posts: 1,376
    In other news, Cameron is a lucky leader. If you compare last week's news to this he had his moment at just the right time. ISIL and Ebola are rightly dominating attention right now.
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    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,763

    fitalass said:

    Third... And in other news. I would like to report a fault to the site after catching up with yesterday's threads. My irony meter completely blew a major fuse when I came across this comment from @___Bobajob___ - "You really are sanctimonious. Give it a rest."
    Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

    Haha!

    Good thread. Interesting times ahead. This victory will propel UKIP further from the shadows into the limelight, with all that entails. No longer will they be just a fringe protest party, but be accountable in Parliament. When the media Westminster machine rolls on College Green, will it be Farage or their MP Carswell who speaks? When the froth subsides on Farage's breakfast pint the time for UKIP to be taken seriously will have arrived. And that's a two-edged sword.
    Yawn.

    so we now get 7 months of Tory sledging in the run up to the GE. Why don't they just get some decent policies ?

    Hugely unimaginative, one term in office and Cameron has run out of ideas,
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    GadflyGadfly Posts: 1,191
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    Swiss_BobSwiss_Bob Posts: 619
    Alex Stewart has basically called Richard Bailey a liar re the @KPGenius Twitter account saying that the three players concerned (Swann, Broad and Bresnan) all had access to the account from their phones and he informed the ECB, including Flowers.

    Pretty damning, must be some betting opportunities there, KP for captain anyone or back in the side as mass sackings occur?
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    audreyanneaudreyanne Posts: 1,376

    fitalass said:

    Third... And in other news. I would like to report a fault to the site after catching up with yesterday's threads. My irony meter completely blew a major fuse when I came across this comment from @___Bobajob___ - "You really are sanctimonious. Give it a rest."
    Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

    Haha!

    Good thread. Interesting times ahead. This victory will propel UKIP further from the shadows into the limelight, with all that entails. No longer will they be just a fringe protest party, but be accountable in Parliament. When the media Westminster machine rolls on College Green, will it be Farage or their MP Carswell who speaks? When the froth subsides on Farage's breakfast pint the time for UKIP to be taken seriously will have arrived. And that's a two-edged sword.
    Yawn.

    so we now get 7 months of Tory sledging in the run up to the GE. Why don't they just get some decent policies ?
    ,
    No I think it will come from the media, and rightly so. It's easy to be in opposition. It's even easier to be shouting from the touchline. UKIP now enter the game proper, and they will come under the spotlight: quite rightly so. If they want to be a grown up party they will have to get used to answering grown up questions, and facing rigorous scrutiny of every one of their wannabe MP's and party members. That's political life and it's a part of democracy.
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    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,763
    edited October 2014

    fitalass said:

    Third... And in other news. I would like to report a fault to the site after catching up with yesterday's threads. My irony meter completely blew a major fuse when I came across this comment from @___Bobajob___ - "You really are sanctimonious. Give it a rest."
    Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

    Haha!

    Good thread. Interesting times ahead. This victory will propel UKIP further from the shadows into the limelight, with all that entails. No longer will they be just a fringe protest party, but be accountable in Parliament. When the media Westminster machine rolls on College Green, will it be Farage or their MP Carswell who speaks? When the froth subsides on Farage's breakfast pint the time for UKIP to be taken seriously will have arrived. And that's a two-edged sword.
    Yawn.

    so we now get 7 months of Tory sledging in the run up to the GE. Why don't they just get some decent policies ?
    ,
    No I think it will come from the media, and rightly so. It's easy to be in opposition. It's even easier to be shouting from the touchline. UKIP now enter the game proper, and they will come under the spotlight: quite rightly so. If they want to be a grown up party they will have to get used to answering grown up questions, and facing rigorous scrutiny of every one of their wannabe MP's and party members. That's political life and it's a part of democracy.
    Yes it;s part of democracy, but so is fighting on your policies and to date the major parties are having an epic fail. Labour have none, the Tories have crap ones and only Clegg yesterday showed any sense that standing on your record might be an issue in the GE.

    Tories simply relying on bad PR for UKIP isn't going to win them a majority, it's as vacuous as Ed's 35% strategy.
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    Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,519

    fitalass said:

    Third... And in other news. I would like to report a fault to the site after catching up with yesterday's threads. My irony meter completely blew a major fuse when I came across this comment from @___Bobajob___ - "You really are sanctimonious. Give it a rest."
    Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

    Haha!

    Good thread. Interesting times ahead. This victory will propel UKIP further from the shadows into the limelight, with all that entails. No longer will they be just a fringe protest party, but be accountable in Parliament. When the media Westminster machine rolls on College Green, will it be Farage or their MP Carswell who speaks? When the froth subsides on Farage's breakfast pint the time for UKIP to be taken seriously will have arrived. And that's a two-edged sword.
    Yawn.

    so we now get 7 months of Tory sledging in the run up to the GE. Why don't they just get some decent policies ?
    ,
    No I think it will come from the media, and rightly so. It's easy to be in opposition. It's even easier to be shouting from the touchline. UKIP now enter the game proper, and they will come under the spotlight: quite rightly so. If they want to be a grown up party they will have to get used to answering grown up questions, and facing rigorous scrutiny of every one of their wannabe MP's and party members. That's political life and it's a part of democracy.
    Like that harsh scrutiny they're currently subjecting the main parties to over Rotherham you mean?

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    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    If Carswell does get elected as the first elected kipper MP, with Reckless to follow, it may help Farage's woman problem. The party will look much less like a rugby club on tour, more like the Aspbergers society outing.

    Carswell would add some intellectual gravitas, but even he and Reckless should be capable of holding their tongues until after May.
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,371
    This was Hannan's summary of the key points of the Plan that he wrote with Carswell taken from his Telegraph blog:

    Scrapping all MPs' expenses except those relating to running an office and travel from the constituency
    Selecting candidates through open primaries
    Local and national referendums
    "People's Bills", to be placed before Parliament if they attract a certain number of signatures
    Placing the police under locally elected Sheriffs, who would also set local sentencing guidelines
    Appointing heads of quangos, senior judges and ambassadors through open hearings rather than prime ministerial patronage
    Devolving to English counties and cities all the powers which were devolved to Edinburgh under the 1998 Scotland Act
    Placing social security, too, under local authorities
    Making councils self-financing by scrapping VAT and replacing it with a Local Sales Tax
    Allowing people to pay their contributions into personal healthcare accounts, with a mandatory insurance component
    Letting parents opt out of their Local Education Authority, carrying to any school the financial allocation that would have been spent on their child
    Replacing EU membership with a Swiss-style bilateral free trade accord
    Requiring all foreign treaties to be ratified by Parliament
    Scrapping the Human Rights Act withdrawing from the ECHR and guaranteeing parliamentary legislation against judicial activism
    A "Great Repeal Bill" to annul unnecessary and burdensome laws

    How much of that is UKIP policy?
    A party that has funded itself by, lets be kind, dubious use of their expenses from the European Parliament.
    Who dumped the local candidate (who in fairness was some sort of a nutter) so Carswell could run.
    Does UKIP support the existence of PCCs?
    And such high levels of localism/devolution?
    The existence of personal healthcare accounts?

    In most areas other than the EU it is difficult to work out what UKIP policy is. What we know is that it does not stay UKIP policy for more than 24 hours if Nigel doesn't like it. How much of this platform will UKIP adopt and what will Carswell do or say about the stuff that they do not adopt?
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    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 32,047

    In other news, Cameron is a lucky leader. If you compare last week's news to this he had his moment at just the right time. ISIL and Ebola are rightly dominating attention right now.

    And Clegg used up his ration (and wasted some of it) when he became the first Third Party leader to get a seat in Cabinet since 1945!
    It’s been downhill for the poor chap ever since!
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    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    DavidL said:

    This was Hannan's summary of the key points of the Plan that he wrote with Carswell taken from his Telegraph blog:

    Scrapping all MPs' expenses except those relating to running an office and travel from the constituency
    Selecting candidates through open primaries
    Local and national referendums
    "People's Bills", to be placed before Parliament if they attract a certain number of signatures
    Placing the police under locally elected Sheriffs, who would also set local sentencing guidelines
    Appointing heads of quangos, senior judges and ambassadors through open hearings rather than prime ministerial patronage
    Devolving to English counties and cities all the powers which were devolved to Edinburgh under the 1998 Scotland Act
    Placing social security, too, under local authorities
    Making councils self-financing by scrapping VAT and replacing it with a Local Sales Tax
    Allowing people to pay their contributions into personal healthcare accounts, with a mandatory insurance component
    Letting parents opt out of their Local Education Authority, carrying to any school the financial allocation that would have been spent on their child
    Replacing EU membership with a Swiss-style bilateral free trade accord
    Requiring all foreign treaties to be ratified by Parliament
    Scrapping the Human Rights Act withdrawing from the ECHR and guaranteeing parliamentary legislation against judicial activism
    A "Great Repeal Bill" to annul unnecessary and burdensome laws

    How much of that is UKIP policy?
    A party that has funded itself by, lets be kind, dubious use of their expenses from the European Parliament.
    Who dumped the local candidate (who in fairness was some sort of a nutter) so Carswell could run.
    Does UKIP support the existence of PCCs?
    And such high levels of localism/devolution?
    The existence of personal healthcare accounts?

    In most areas other than the EU it is difficult to work out what UKIP policy is. What we know is that it does not stay UKIP policy for more than 24 hours if Nigel doesn't like it. How much of this platform will UKIP adopt and what will Carswell do or say about the stuff that they do not adopt?

    There is also immigration. Carswell and Hannans book hardly mentions it as an issue, though it seems central to most existing kippers.

    Carswell did campaign in Clacton on protecting the NHS, so perhaps has changed his mind on a few things.
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,371
    @foxinsoxuk

    Maybe. There are just substantial risks, as Corporeal points out, in having such an "independent" thinker as your sole MP. If he expresses an opinion in Parliament, and he will, is that UKIP policy or not?
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    mattmatt Posts: 3,789

    DavidL said:

    This was Hannan's summary of the key points of the Plan that he wrote with Carswell taken from his Telegraph blog:

    Scrapping all MPs' expenses except those relating to running an office and travel from the constituency
    Selecting candidates through open primaries
    Local and national referendums
    "People's Bills", to be placed before Parliament if they attract a certain number of signatures
    Placing the police under locally elected Sheriffs, who would also set local sentencing guidelines
    Appointing heads of quangos, senior judges and ambassadors through open hearings rather than prime ministerial patronage
    Devolving to English counties and cities all the powers which were devolved to Edinburgh under the 1998 Scotland Act
    Placing social security, too, under local authorities
    Making councils self-financing by scrapping VAT and replacing it with a Local Sales Tax
    Allowing people to pay their contributions into personal healthcare accounts, with a mandatory insurance component
    Letting parents opt out of their Local Education Authority, carrying to any school the financial allocation that would have been spent on their child
    Replacing EU membership with a Swiss-style bilateral free trade accord
    Requiring all foreign treaties to be ratified by Parliament
    Scrapping the Human Rights Act withdrawing from the ECHR and guaranteeing parliamentary legislation against judicial activism
    A "Great Repeal Bill" to annul unnecessary and burdensome laws

    How much of that is UKIP policy?
    A party that has funded itself by, lets be kind, dubious use of their expenses from the European Parliament.
    Who dumped the local candidate (who in fairness was some sort of a nutter) so Carswell could run.
    Does UKIP support the existence of PCCs?
    And such high levels of localism/devolution?
    The existence of personal healthcare accounts?

    In most areas other than the EU it is difficult to work out what UKIP policy is. What we know is that it does not stay UKIP policy for more than 24 hours if Nigel doesn't like it. How much of this platform will UKIP adopt and what will Carswell do or say about the stuff that they do not adopt?

    There is also immigration. Carswell and Hannans book hardly mentions it as an issue, though it seems central to most existing kippers.

    Carswell did campaign in Clacton on protecting the NHS, so perhaps has changed his mind on a few things.
    Wouldn't it be simpler for Hannan and Carswell, on the basis of that wish list, to move to a state such as Arizona.
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    OblitusSumMeOblitusSumMe Posts: 9,143
    Gadfly said:
    Have you considered adding the Greens to your interesting graph?
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    MonksfieldMonksfield Posts: 2,221
    Looks like being a historic day for UKIP, and in Carswell, they will have an authoritative voice to put alongside Farage. God knows I don't agree with everything he says, but at least he is a politician that has a philosophy, and is prepared to say what he thinks. An antidote to the wannabes and careerists who infest both main parties in the Commons. If we had more Carswells on all sides, we'd be a better governed country; I have no doubt of that.
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    Innocent_AbroadInnocent_Abroad Posts: 3,294
    edited October 2014
    UKIP are far too small to contain both Farage and Carswell. They can hope that this will cease to be so after the General Election, but it won't. As has been noticed, Farage appeals to men on their third or fourth pint - probably not much to teetotallers or men like my son who has a bottle of Bespoke Ale two or three times a week for the taste of it and not what it does for him - whilst Carswell probably appeals to women who are angry with their menfolk (most of them. admittedly). So UKIP needs them both, and had better be prepared for Lord Whatnot's polling designed to drive a wedge further into these differences.

    As to DavidL's [7:03] list, surely I can't be the only Peebie who doesn't know whether to laugh or cry? If it ever came to pass I would propose a Bill requiring taxes to be paid by Other People, which should easily obtain the requisite number of signatures. Admittedly items 2 and 5 look like common sense but "local and national referendums" (on what? banning Islam? hanging lefties?) suggest that UKIP have one candidate who is Reckless by name and another who is reckless by nature.
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    SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,691
    Here's a thought for a head-to-head bet at the GE: UKIP gains from the Conservatives vs SNP gains from Labour. If I were a betting man, I think I would go with the Kippers on that one.
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    I'm backing Rev Oswald!!!

    I think my bet may have had its chips however....
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    SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,691
    Anarchy in the UK on the Today programme! Civilization officially ends today!
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    OblitusSumMeOblitusSumMe Posts: 9,143

    Here's a thought for a head-to-head bet at the GE: UKIP gains from the Conservatives vs SNP gains from Labour. If I were a betting man, I think I would go with the Kippers on that one.

    That's an excellent idea. UKIP will have a two seat headstart on the SNP if they win these two by-elections.
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    @Fitalass

    Audrey chastised me for the dreadful crime of again asking the tiresome Moniker to back up one of his ludicrous forecasts with hard cash. On a betting site. She also asked another poster to change his name.

    If you agree with her then say so.
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    I'm backing Rev Oswald!!!

    I think my bet may have had its chips however....

    They should have gone for Ma Boswell.

    She'd have been thrashed the traitorous pig dog.

    FYI had I have been editing PB tomorrow the headline would have been

    "History is made as the first pig-dog becomes an MP"
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    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    DavidL said:

    @foxinsoxuk

    Maybe. There are just substantial risks, as Corporeal points out, in having such an "independent" thinker as your sole MP. If he expresses an opinion in Parliament, and he will, is that UKIP policy or not?

    UKIP policy will remain what Farage says, on any particular day.
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    chestnutchestnut Posts: 7,341
    edited October 2014
    YouGov

    (Last 5 leads)

    1, 2 , -2, -2, -1

    (Previous 5)

    7, 5, 5, 5, 6

    UKIP 13.8 last 5 polls, 14.8 previous 5.
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    chestnut said:

    YouGov

    (Last 5 leads)

    1, 2 , -2, -2, -1

    (Previous 5)

    7, 5, 5, 5, 6

    UKIP 13.8 this week, 14.8 last week.

    Sleazy broken Labour on the slide.
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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    Members of the NEC, speaking on condition have anonymity, said there was increasing concern about Mr Miliband’s leadership.

    One said: “People will want to know what the strategy is for the general election.

    “Party headquarters is totally dysfunctional – nobody knows who is running what. There seems to be four or five different people in charge of different things.”

    Mr Miliband was also not being ably assisted by members of his shadow Cabinet who seemed to be jockeying for the leadership after he quits.

    The source said: “The truth about is that we are in the trenches, and I look to my left and to my right and I don’t see anybody there."
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ed-miliband/11148942/Ed-Miliband-has-the-electoral-appeal-of-Gordon-Brown-warn-NEC-members-ahead-of-crunch-Labour-meeting.html
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    Scott_P said:

    Members of the NEC, speaking on condition have anonymity, said there was increasing concern about Mr Miliband’s leadership.

    One said: “People will want to know what the strategy is for the general election.

    “Party headquarters is totally dysfunctional – nobody knows who is running what. There seems to be four or five different people in charge of different things.”

    Mr Miliband was also not being ably assisted by members of his shadow Cabinet who seemed to be jockeying for the leadership after he quits.

    The source said: “The truth about is that we are in the trenches, and I look to my left and to my right and I don’t see anybody there."
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ed-miliband/11148942/Ed-Miliband-has-the-electoral-appeal-of-Gordon-Brown-warn-NEC-members-ahead-of-crunch-Labour-meeting.html

    Couldn't have been a Labour Party member, then. In that Party, there is always someone to the Left of you and someone to the Right...

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    SquareRootSquareRoot Posts: 7,095
    Well IA at least they are right about it being dysfunctional.
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    logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,727

    DavidL said:

    @foxinsoxuk

    Maybe. There are just substantial risks, as Corporeal points out, in having such an "independent" thinker as your sole MP. If he expresses an opinion in Parliament, and he will, is that UKIP policy or not?

    UKIP policy will remain what Farage says, on any particular day.
    Can you have a split party with just one MP?
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    Well IA at least they are right about it being dysfunctional.

    That's its natural condition. Only Attlee, Wilson and Blair have ever made it work - the first two only for one or two short periods and with a heavy following wind, Blair by pretending it was something else and hoping the activists wouldn't notice.

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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,563
    edited October 2014
    Scott_P said:

    Members of the NEC, speaking on condition have anonymity, said there was increasing concern about Mr Miliband’s leadership.

    One said: “People will want to know what the strategy is for the general election.

    “Party headquarters is totally dysfunctional – nobody knows who is running what. There seems to be four or five different people in charge of different things.”

    Mr Miliband was also not being ably assisted by members of his shadow Cabinet who seemed to be jockeying for the leadership after he quits.

    The source said: “The truth about is that we are in the trenches, and I look to my left and to my right and I don’t see anybody there."
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ed-miliband/11148942/Ed-Miliband-has-the-electoral-appeal-of-Gordon-Brown-warn-NEC-members-ahead-of-crunch-Labour-meeting.html

    Labour's NEC should listen to PBers.

    We warned them Brown would be a terrible leader and we told them Ed is crap.

    If they want to win the election they should replace him with Harriet Harman now
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    Is Dave going to get a majority in May?
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    chestnut said:

    YouGov

    (Last 5 leads)

    1, 2 , -2, -2, -1

    (Previous 5)

    7, 5, 5, 5, 6

    UKIP 13.8 last 5 polls, 14.8 previous 5.

    Last week Stephen Fisher was forecasting Labour winning 306 seats against the Tories' 288 seats based UKPR's then polling average.
    It will be interesting to see how these change tomorrow ...... a reversal of these figures and then some I would say.,
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    Patrick said:

    Is Dave going to get a majority in May?

    Yes. The popular vote will be Con 35, Lab 25, UKIP 23. The SNP will get more votes in Scotland than the Lib Dems do in the whole of Britain.

    Because of the dysfunctional way in which our electoral system works, I have little idea how this would turn into seats, but Cameron will get a working majority. Then we shall have the anti-Terror Bill which will turn us into a shamocracy like Putin's Russia.

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    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,061
    Patrick said:

    Is Dave going to get a majority in May?

    It'll be difficult, but the last fortnight makes it look more likely than it did.

    Currently, it looks as though the real winner will be NOTA: UKIP, the Greens, and the smaller parties that are unsullied by having to deal with reality.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,002
    Good morning, everyone.

    Mr. Abroad, whilst the Coalition hasn't been stellar on such things (though it deserves kudos for axing Labour's deranged ID card database nonsense), let us not forget it was Labour who wanted the state to be able to lock people up for 90 days without charge.

    On-topic: the Labour seat's the more interesting.
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    Scott_P said:

    Members of the NEC, speaking on condition have anonymity, said there was increasing concern about Mr Miliband’s leadership.

    One said: “People will want to know what the strategy is for the general election.

    “Party headquarters is totally dysfunctional – nobody knows who is running what. There seems to be four or five different people in charge of different things.”

    Mr Miliband was also not being ably assisted by members of his shadow Cabinet who seemed to be jockeying for the leadership after he quits.

    The source said: “The truth about is that we are in the trenches, and I look to my left and to my right and I don’t see anybody there."
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ed-miliband/11148942/Ed-Miliband-has-the-electoral-appeal-of-Gordon-Brown-warn-NEC-members-ahead-of-crunch-Labour-meeting.html
    Labour's NEC should listen to PBers.

    We warned them Brown would be a terrible leader and we told them Ed is crap.

    If they want to win the election they should replace him with Harriet Harman now

    It's all way, way too late for that.
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    Patrick said:

    Is Dave going to get a majority in May?

    Yes. The popular vote will be Con 35, Lab 25, UKIP 23. The SNP will get more votes in Scotland than the Lib Dems do in the whole of Britain.

    Because of the dysfunctional way in which our electoral system works, I have little idea how this would turn into seats, but Cameron will get a working majority. Then we shall have the anti-Terror Bill which will turn us into a shamocracy like Putin's Russia.

    More importantly we'll get EVFEL as the precursor to a fuller Constitutional Convention and fair boundaries. Labour domestic / devolved policy nonsense will be dead. And Labour will need to decide who they are and who they are for - they could be in for a long period of self examination, and I for one don't think they'll come up with a decent answer.
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    Patrick said:

    Patrick said:

    Is Dave going to get a majority in May?

    Yes. The popular vote will be Con 35, Lab 25, UKIP 23. The SNP will get more votes in Scotland than the Lib Dems do in the whole of Britain.

    Because of the dysfunctional way in which our electoral system works, I have little idea how this would turn into seats, but Cameron will get a working majority. Then we shall have the anti-Terror Bill which will turn us into a shamocracy like Putin's Russia.

    More importantly we'll get EVFEL as the precursor to a fuller Constitutional Convention and fair boundaries. Labour domestic / devolved policy nonsense will be dead. And Labour will need to decide who they are and who they are for - they could be in for a long period of self examination, and I for one don't think they'll come up with a decent answer.
    Neither do I, although the word "decent" is capable of more than one meaning in this context!

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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    chestnut said:

    YouGov

    (Last 5 leads)

    1, 2 , -2, -2, -1

    (Previous 5)

    7, 5, 5, 5, 6

    UKIP 13.8 this week, 14.8 last week.

    Sleazy broken Labour on the slide.
    Nah it's those policy-thingies the Tories announced at conference (but which @Alanbrooke didn't notice)
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    Innocent_AbroadInnocent_Abroad Posts: 3,294
    edited October 2014

    Good morning, everyone.

    Mr. Abroad, whilst the Coalition hasn't been stellar on such things (though it deserves kudos for axing Labour's deranged ID card database nonsense), let us not forget it was Labour who wanted the state to be able to lock people up for 90 days without charge.

    On-topic: the Labour seat's the more interesting.

    Yes. It's very difficult for politicians to stand up for liberty when the drive for its abolition comes from top coppers and soldiers, who can (and I have no doubt do) threaten to resign if they don't get their way. When did you last hear one of them say "democracy and liberty help me to do my job"? It's not in their mindset.

    I have probably been too hard on the Tories on this issue. If they've got the sense they were born with, they'll offer Labour an input into the Bill through the "usual channels" and Labour will have no good position to take - help the Government with the Bill and so smash up its own base further, or decline and let themselves be painted as endangering babies' lives.

    To this extent, the Islamic terrorists have already won.

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    GadflyGadfly Posts: 1,191

    Gadfly said:
    Have you considered adding the Greens to your interesting graph?
    If somebody could point me towards an easily copied data set, then I would give it a go (but I will not be around for the rest of today).

    As things stand, I would have to open every YouGov pdf since the 2010 election, which feels like quite a grunt.
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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    Labour and Ed Miliband are having a tough couple of weeks. Our conference never got off the ground and Ed’s speech was not well received (or indeed delivered). Others here have talked about their confusion over our policy and strategy. Having been through the NPF process, I think we have the bones of a decent policy offer. It could be radical enough, but only if we allow it to be.

    Labour do not currently talk like an insurgent opposition. We do not currently allow ourselves to offer hope – only to counsel that our despair will be less awful than the despair others may bring. Vote Labour because we’re not the Tories (and aren’t the Lib Dems awful) seems to be our most constant and consistent refrain. It will not be enough and it will not be heard
    http://labourlist.org/2014/10/bring-me-sunshine/
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    Gadfly said:

    Gadfly said:
    Have you considered adding the Greens to your interesting graph?
    If somebody could point me towards an easily copied data set, then I would give it a go (but I will not be around for the rest of today).

    As things stand, I would have to open every YouGov pdf since the 2010 election, which feels like quite a grunt.
    If you email/tweet YouGov and ask them nicely for a spreadsheet with the figures in them, then they will send it to you
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited October 2014
    May 2015 is going to be an existensial fight for Labour - because of Scotland / the Vow. They lose - they're dead.

    Good thing that they have such an inspiring, popular, deep thinking, big hitting leader. ;-)
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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @patrickwintour: Essential by election reading from Fabians as Labour assesses damage being inflicted by UKIP and how to respond. http://t.co/WLoCX406lh
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    Patrick said:

    May 2015 is going to be an existensial fight for Labour - because of Scotland / the Vow. They lose - they're dead.

    Good thing that they have such an inspiring, popular, deep thinking, big hitting leader. ;-)

    But will they notice?

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    SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    “What Nick Clegg said ... and what he really meant”

    Rifled through the papers this morning looking for commentary on Clegg’s big speech, unfortunately they’re as rare as hen’s teeth, but did find this amusing dissection by Rentoul.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/liberal-democrat-conference-what-nick-clegg-said--and-what-he-meant-9782715.html
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    TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 41,403
    edited October 2014
    Charles said:

    chestnut said:

    YouGov

    (Last 5 leads)

    1, 2 , -2, -2, -1

    (Previous 5)

    7, 5, 5, 5, 6

    UKIP 13.8 this week, 14.8 last week.

    Sleazy broken Labour on the slide.
    Nah it's those policy-thingies the Tories announced at conference (but which @Alanbrooke didn't notice)
    Nobody notices policies. People notice:

    Character: Toxic Cons vs Caring Lab
    Competence: Incompetent Lab vs Competent Cons
    Fairness: Wrong kind of recovery Lab vs...well...vs....what?

    It will come down, at the margin, to whether:

    a) the electorate will tolerate the nasty Cons because they've managed the economy well, even though it hasn't affected me yet; or
    b) the recovery is a distant chimera and Lab wants to look after me if only the nasty Cons would let them and it wasn't all that bad in 2008 anyway.
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    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,763
    edited October 2014
    Charles said:

    chestnut said:

    YouGov

    (Last 5 leads)

    1, 2 , -2, -2, -1

    (Previous 5)

    7, 5, 5, 5, 6

    UKIP 13.8 this week, 14.8 last week.

    Sleazy broken Labour on the slide.
    Nah it's those policy-thingies the Tories announced at conference (but which @Alanbrooke didn't notice)
    chortle

    Oh I noticed them Charles, the basic issue is whether you accept them as policies a government intends to deliver or spin ahead of an election.

    Deficit, rebalancing economy, rolling back the state ..... they said it but didn;t do it.

    looking at the Tories record of the last 4 years I'm squarely in the latter camp. And that is really the problem for Cameron. If he can;t persude about 10% more of the electorate that he says what he means and means what he says then the best he can hope for is a HP again.


    Deficit, rebalancing economy, rolling back the state, EU referendum ..... they said it but didn;t do it.

    ( cue cries of the evil Lib dems stopped us)
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    SlackbladderSlackbladder Posts: 9,713
    Patrick said:

    May 2015 is going to be an existensial fight for Labour - because of Scotland / the Vow. They lose - they're dead.

    Good thing that they have such an inspiring, popular, deep thinking, big hitting leader. ;-)

    Labour are just struggling to cope with the 21st century, (as are the Tories as well), we live in a very global, very moving, very competitive world.

    The concept of a social democratic nation, with things like socialised health care and the like are increasingly different to maintain, with immigration, and an aging population putting more and more strain on expensive state structures.

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    NinoinozNinoinoz Posts: 1,312
    RodCrosby said:

    The first time since Isle of Ely, 1973 that the victorious party had not contested the previous election (in an English seat).

    An interesting counter-factual piece of history there, Rod. Assumes:

    1. The SDP fought the 1979 GE.
    and/or
    2. The SDP won no by-elections.
    and/or
    3. Wirral isn't in England. You have heard of Crosby, RodCrosby?
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,060
    Quiz question for PBers:

    Rank these countries in terms of employment in public sector as percent of total:

    Germany
    The UK
    Spain
    Portugal
    France
    Denmark

    Highest to lowest, and double points for guessing (approximately) the percentages.
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    Patrick said:

    May 2015 is going to be an existensial fight for Labour - because of Scotland / the Vow. They lose - they're dead.

    Good thing that they have such an inspiring, popular, deep thinking, big hitting leader. ;-)

    Labour are just struggling to cope with the 21st century, (as are the Tories as well), we live in a very global, very moving, very competitive world.

    The concept of a social democratic nation, with things like socialised health care and the like are increasingly different to maintain, with immigration, and an aging population putting more and more strain on expensive state structures.

    The deficit funded welfare state model has been dead for a while - just this is not yet understood or accepted as a fact by many. Labour are in DEEP denial about it - it's their whole ideology. The Tories? Well I think they see it and are responding accordingly. Certainly Ozzy is. Even Dave talks alot about competition, the 'global race', and sound money (his conference speech was bang on). So basically one main party is right and ahead of the curve and one is nowhere.
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    "Fairness: Wrong kind of recovery Lab vs...well...vs....what?"

    Recovery.
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    SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322
    rcs1000 said:

    Quiz question for PBers:

    Rank these countries in terms of employment in public sector as percent of total:

    Germany
    The UK
    Spain
    Portugal
    France
    Denmark

    Highest to lowest, and double points for guessing (approximately) the percentages.

    UK - 20%
    France 19%
    Germany - 17%
    Denmark - 15%
    Portugal - 11%
    Spain - 10%
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    SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    Scott_P said:

    Labour and Ed Miliband are having a tough couple of weeks. Our conference never got off the ground and Ed’s speech was not well received (or indeed delivered). Others here have talked about their confusion over our policy and strategy. Having been through the NPF process, I think we have the bones of a decent policy offer. It could be radical enough, but only if we allow it to be.

    Labour do not currently talk like an insurgent opposition. We do not currently allow ourselves to offer hope – only to counsel that our despair will be less awful than the despair others may bring. Vote Labour because we’re not the Tories (and aren’t the Lib Dems awful) seems to be our most constant and consistent refrain. It will not be enough and it will not be heard
    /

    Blimey, if that's what they're openly saying on LabourList - what's it like behind closed doors?
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,002
    edited October 2014
    Mr. 1000, my guesses:
    Germany - 53%
    France - 52%
    Denmark - 46%
    UK - 40%
    Portugal - 36%

    Edited extra bit: ahem, I misread the instruction :p

    [In my defence, I'm quite sleepy].

    Do I get a second go, or have I failed this exam?
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    TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 41,403
    edited October 2014

    "Fairness: Wrong kind of recovery Lab vs...well...vs....what?"

    Recovery.

    I couldn't care less that the oil sheikhs are all billionaires. It doesn't get me a supercar to race around outside Harvey Nicks.

    (Edit: tortured analogy)
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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Calling the PB Brains Trust

    I've been looking in detail at the UKIP constituency polls, and I've found three things that I don't understand. I'm sure I'm being very thick on all of the following points, but I'm not that expert at reading the detail of opinion polls and I've got stuck.

    1) In the Rochester & Strood opinion poll, it states that 1012 people have been polled. In the table of 2010 vote, it shows (weighted) Con 359, Lab 207, LD 52, Other 68, Did Not Vote 223. This totals 909. What are the other 103 people? Are they those who were not eligible to vote last time round?

    I attach the detailed table here:

    http://survation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Confidential-Rochester-and-Strood-Constituency-Poll-Weighted_Oct03.pdf

    2) In the Boston & Skegness opinion poll, it states that 595 people have been polled. In the table of 2010 votes (weighted), we are told there are Con 76, Lab 55, LD 4, UKIP 23 (this varies a bit across questions, but not much). This totals 158. There is no Others or Did Not Vote total explicitly given. Is it really the case that fewer than a third of respondents, as weighted, voted for one of these four parties in 2010?

    http://survation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Boston-Skegness-Results.pdf

    In 2010 in practice turnout was over 60% in this constituency and just under 95% of those who voted, voted for one of these parties.

    3) In 2010, the Conservatives outpolled Labour by 5:2 and UKIP by 5:1 in Boston & Skegness. Why are they apparently weighted in very different proportions now?

    I expect the three questions can be summed up in one question: why is antifrank being so thick?

    Could someone patiently talk me through these?
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,563
    edited October 2014
    @Antifrank - You need to read this, Survation posted this, a while back, it is to do with false recall, which is a real problem in constituency polls and 15% not having lived in the seat at the last election. I hope it answers your question.

    http://survation.com/a-note-on-methodology-for-our-constituency-phone-polls/
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    bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 21,894
    chestnut said:

    YouGov

    (Last 5 leads)

    1, 2 , -2, -2, -1

    (Previous 5)

    7, 5, 5, 5, 6

    UKIP 13.8 last 5 polls, 14.8 previous 5.

    Curiously offset to some degree by Populus that have shown increased leads since Daves speech
    Before 4 and 2
    After 6 and 5

    I do agree Fisher will revert to a Tory plurality though.
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    SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322
    @antifrank

    My guess for (1) would be people who declined to answer that question. My guess for (2) would be that they overwhelmingly got people from one group (like retirees) who only account for a set amount of the electorate. No idea about 3.
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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    edited October 2014

    @Antifrank - You need to read this, Survation posted this, a while back, it is to do with false recall, which is a real problem in constituency polls and 15% not having lived in the seat at the last election. I hope it answers your question.

    http://survation.com/a-note-on-methodology-for-our-constituency-phone-polls/

    It helps with questions 1 and 3 (though a movement in the Conservative: Labour ratio from 5:2 to 7:5 is eyebrow-raisingly high).

    Thanks.
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    antifrank said:

    @Antifrank - You need to read this, Survation posted this, a while back, it is to do with false recall, which is a real problem in constituency polls and 15% not having lived in the seat at the last election. I hope it answers your question.

    http://survation.com/a-note-on-methodology-for-our-constituency-phone-polls/

    It helps with questions 1 and 3 (though a movement in the Conservative: Labour ratio from 5:2 to 7:5 is eyebrow-raisingly high).

    Thanks.
    Number 2 is odd. I'll ask Damian/Survation for an answer on that.
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    MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
    edited October 2014
    Good Morning. Looks like a good day for by-elections.

    A year ago the vast majority of PBers and the MSM were still saying that UKIP would be lucky to reach 5% in a GE and that 99% of tories would return home. They aren't saying it now.

    Corporeals tongue in cheek leader to this thread, still can't quite believe the progress UKIP has made. True, there will be problems for UKIP in the future but these are the problems of a political party advancing and will be solved.

    So those that can, get out there and vote UKIP!
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,563
    edited October 2014
    I'm not one of Tim Montgomerie's fans, but he's engaging in so high quality trolling of Carswell today, pointing out how silly he is

    Tim Montgomerie ‏@TimMontgomerie 38m38 minutes ago
    A message from @DouglasCarswell on By-Election Day

    Only the Conservatives will guarantee and deliver an In /Out referendum. It will only happen if Cameron is Prime Minister #BetterOffOut


    twitter.com/douglascarswell/status/443787388348006400 … #Clacton

    twitter.com/TimMontgomerie/status/520115834761789440
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,002
    Mr. Eagles, Captain Principles to the rescue.
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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    In return, through a highly circuitous route I heard this morning that the Conservatives are hopeful of keeping Douglas Carswell's majority under 5,000 (!). We'll see soon enough I guess.
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,986

    @Antifrank - You need to read this, Survation posted this, a while back, it is to do with false recall, which is a real problem in constituency polls and 15% not having lived in the seat at the last election. I hope it answers your question.

    http://survation.com/a-note-on-methodology-for-our-constituency-phone-polls/

    I'm part of the 15% -

    Coventry South 2005
    Sheffield Central 2010
    Derbyshire NE 2015.

    A grand tour indeed.
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    DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300

    I'm not one of Tim Montgomerie's fans, but he's engaging in so high quality trolling of Carswell today, pointing out how silly he is

    Tim Montgomerie ‏@TimMontgomerie 38m38 minutes ago
    A message from @DouglasCarswell on By-Election Day https://twitter.com/douglascarswell/status/443787388348006400 … #Clacton

    Amusing stuff but it assumes the average UKIP voter gives a toss about Europe, when NOTA is probably the prime motivation. Ask the LibDems how many of their voters cared about AV.
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    Patrick said:

    May 2015 is going to be an existensial fight for Labour - because of Scotland / the Vow. They lose - they're dead.

    Good thing that they have such an inspiring, popular, deep thinking, big hitting leader. ;-)

    You seem to spend large amounts of time on here reassuring yourself.
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,986
    Patrick said:

    May 2015 is going to be an existensial fight for Labour - because of Scotland / the Vow. They lose - they're dead.

    Good thing that they have such an inspiring, popular, deep thinking, big hitting leader. ;-)

    No.

    The Indy Ref was THE existential fight for Labour with all their Scottish seats. What they have in 2015 is a regular General Election. They may win or lose, but losing the Indy ref would have been far far bigger in the long term for Labour than GE 2015.
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    Right. Reality beckons. See you all to-morrow DV, with a couple of Parliamentary by-election results to digest! Joy! Joy! (Or something...)
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,002
    Kobane: Turkey foreign minister says it cannot be expected to lead anti-IS ground operation in Syria on its own:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29548662

    Didn't the Turkish Parliament vote a few days ago to permit Turkish troops to take action against ISIS?
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    bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 21,894
    Pulpstar said:

    @Antifrank - You need to read this, Survation posted this, a while back, it is to do with false recall, which is a real problem in constituency polls and 15% not having lived in the seat at the last election. I hope it answers your question.

    http://survation.com/a-note-on-methodology-for-our-constituency-phone-polls/

    I'm part of the 15% -

    Coventry South 2005
    Sheffield Central 2010
    Derbyshire NE 2015.

    A grand tour indeed.
    Where will your search for the best LAB constituency end one asks
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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    It seems that FUD is an international concept:

    http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/07/barcelona-la-liga-catalonia-spain

    I'm sure there are good reasons why Catalonia should not go independent, but the idea that Spanish football is going to turn its back on one of its biggest cash cows is implausible.
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    bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 21,894

    Kobane: Turkey foreign minister says it cannot be expected to lead anti-IS ground operation in Syria on its own:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29548662

    Didn't the Turkish Parliament vote a few days ago to permit Turkish troops to take action against ISIS?

    Is it conditional on attacking Assad as well though!
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    MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
    Looks like John Bickley is the forgotten man today. If he does well enough to manage a win in Heywood & Middleton he will be the hero of the day and a shock of tremendous proportions.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,002
    Mr. Antifrank, Catalan Dragons play in the Superleague (I think, rugby's not something I follow much). I'm sure we'd welcome Barcelona into the Premiership if they wanted to join.

    Mr. Owls, not sure. Turkey didn't attack Assad beforehand, though.
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    antifrank said:

    It seems that FUD is an international concept:

    http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/07/barcelona-la-liga-catalonia-spain

    I'm sure there are good reasons why Catalonia should not go independent, but the idea that Spanish football is going to turn its back on one of its biggest cash cows is implausible.

    Actually it is plausible (but unlikely)

    The way Spanish football TV deals work isn't quite like the Premier League deal works.
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    bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 21,894
    MikeK said:

    Looks like John Bickley is the forgotten man today. If he does well enough to manage a win in Heywood & Middleton he will be the hero of the day and a shock of tremendous proportions.

    I have a feeling he may well get closer than the polls suggest but reckon LAB will win.
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    fitalass said:

    Third... And in other news. I would like to report a fault to the site after catching up with yesterday's threads. My irony meter completely blew a major fuse when I came across this comment from @___Bobajob___ - "You really are sanctimonious. Give it a rest."
    Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

    Haha!

    Good thread. Interesting times ahead. This victory will propel UKIP further from the shadows into the limelight, with all that entails. No longer will they be just a fringe protest party, but be accountable in Parliament. When the media Westminster machine rolls on College Green, will it be Farage or their MP Carswell who speaks? When the froth subsides on Farage's breakfast pint the time for UKIP to be taken seriously will have arrived. And that's a two-edged sword.
    Yawn.

    so we now get 7 months of Tory sledging in the run up to the GE. Why don't they just get some decent policies ?

    Hugely unimaginative, one term in office and Cameron has run out of ideas,
    Perhaps the lack of "new" policy idea is a good thing - how about a period of effective follow-through and governance, instead?

    In the health sector, the workforce is heartily sick of politically-motivated change. Little wonder that so many are taking early retirement or moving abroad.
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    A couple of other points to throw into the mix in response to Corporeal's excellent thread.

    UKIP do not whip their councillors nor their MPs. They oppose whipping on principle - something I agree with wholeheartedly and which is also something Carswell agrees with.

    I wonder if they intend to continue with that with their MPs.

    Secondly and slightly OT, UKIP have put up their policies in some areas on the website. Interesting to see what common ground there is between them and the Carswell/Hannan agenda (which I agree with wholeheartedly).

    http://www.ukip.org/policies_for_people

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    Anyone else bought KP's book?

    Dan Walker ‏@mrdanwalker

    Cricket correspondent quits twitter after spat with popstar wife of England's best batsmen #StoriesThatWouldHaveMadeNoSense10YearsAgo
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    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,763

    fitalass said:

    Third... And in other news. I would like to report a fault to the site after catching up with yesterday's threads. My irony meter completely blew a major fuse when I came across this comment from @___Bobajob___ - "You really are sanctimonious. Give it a rest."
    Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

    Haha!

    Good thread. Interesting times ahead. This victory will propel UKIP further from the shadows into the limelight, with all that entails. No longer will they be just a fringe protest party, but be accountable in Parliament. When the media Westminster machine rolls on College Green, will it be Farage or their MP Carswell who speaks? When the froth subsides on Farage's breakfast pint the time for UKIP to be taken seriously will have arrived. And that's a two-edged sword.
    Yawn.

    so we now get 7 months of Tory sledging in the run up to the GE. Why don't they just get some decent policies ?

    Hugely unimaginative, one term in office and Cameron has run out of ideas,
    Perhaps the lack of "new" policy idea is a good thing - how about a period of effective follow-through and governance, instead?

    In the health sector, the workforce is heartily sick of politically-motivated change. Little wonder that so many are taking early retirement or moving abroad.
    Yes, I'd go with that, Cameron stills owes for what he hasn't done since 2010, maybe if the parties just implemented policies sensibly instead of trying to play the" change" or "new" card every 6 months we'd be better off.
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,986

    Pulpstar said:

    @Antifrank - You need to read this, Survation posted this, a while back, it is to do with false recall, which is a real problem in constituency polls and 15% not having lived in the seat at the last election. I hope it answers your question.

    http://survation.com/a-note-on-methodology-for-our-constituency-phone-polls/

    I'm part of the 15% -

    Coventry South 2005
    Sheffield Central 2010
    Derbyshire NE 2015.

    A grand tour indeed.
    Where will your search for the best LAB constituency end one asks
    Heh

    I think NE Derbyshire will be an easy enough Labour hold, (As will Cov S and Sheff C - all 1-100) but the interesting thing will be 2nd place - UKIP have an outside chance of beating CON here but what odds I'd price it up at - not sure)
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,002
    Mr. Tyndall, hard to whip people who (until today) don't exist!

    On a serious note: let's say we get a UKIP government, whether majority or in coalition. Surely you'd have to whip on finance bills and manifesto pledges/coalition agreements?
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    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,314

    A couple of other points to throw into the mix in response to Corporeal's excellent thread.

    UKIP do not whip their councillors nor their MPs. They oppose whipping on principle - something I agree with wholeheartedly and which is also something Carswell agrees with.

    I wonder if they intend to continue with that with their MPs.

    Secondly and slightly OT, UKIP have put up their policies in some areas on the website. Interesting to see what common ground there is between them and the Carswell/Hannan agenda (which I agree with wholeheartedly).

    http://www.ukip.org/policies_for_people

    Thanks for the UKIP policy link. Well worth a read. Have they costed all these populist promises?
This discussion has been closed.