The narrative developing here that the SNP are losing significant numbers of voters to Reform is just... I think this is a coping mechanism for PB Tories.
Looking at the Survation poll - a full Scottish poll but I'm quoting sub-samples from it - 4% of the SNP's GE '24 vote is going to Reform. Whichever way you cut, the SNP is simply not the main source the source of votes - it looks like nearly half of the SCon vote is going Reform, for example.
But the bigger story is that the core Reform base is highly energised (voter retention is 90%+) and they are invigorating lots of new voters. That's the same in Scotland as in England.
If it was anyone else but Trump you would think that they couldn’t cancel the Musk contracts as it would show that they were awarded for personal reasons and not because they were the best options.
As it’s Trump he will not give a monkey’s about people seeing the clear conflict - either the contracts were wrongly awarded or the removal damages the US for personal spite.
Since the contracts existed under Biden too the former doesn't really apply.
If they're removed it will be personal spite, but SpaceX didn't get its contracts for personal reasons.
I didn't expect Labour to hold on to as much of their vote but always expected a close result and a three-way fight.
Not sure this changes much but, of course, because Labour actually won and their polling is otherwise awful this will be portrayed as a triumph.
Echoes of the by election in Batley in 2021?
Both the Reform surging and Starmer dead stories have been a bit overdone in recent months. (Not that they're wrong, but they're not that unambiguously right either). But the hack pack needs an excuse to course-correct.
Watching former Labour supporter Michelle Mone get eviscerated on the BBC.
What have I learned? She appears to be a bullshitter and the glitterati despise her East End Glasgow peasantry. And in his own mind David Cameron is head and shoulders Britain's greatest ever Prime Minister.
I suspect if there is a single sacrificial lamb for the Johnson Government PPE scandal, that lamb might be blonde.
I found her surprisingly likable at the beginning. She had an intuitive sense of how to sell herself and her product and she worked really hard against the odds. A brilliantly paced documentary which unfolded like a Shakespearian tragedy where the flaw in her character revealed itself quite late on with few clues up until the Mrs Rod Stewart moment and then it was downhill all the way.......
Its joyous. Swinney went ALL IN with the "you have to vote for us to stop Reform" guff. To see a massive drop in their vote. And Labour beat Reform and the SNP.
Simple truth - despite the disappointment people have in the LabCon government, the bitter resentment by so many against the SNP government is stronger.
Its joyous. Swinney went ALL IN with the "you have to vote for us to stop Reform" guff. To see a massive drop in their vote. And Labour beat Reform and the SNP.
Simple truth - despite the disappointment people have in the LabCon government, the bitter resentment by so many against the SNP government is stronger.
I think I've missed that effect. I thought Labour were so dire as to make the SNP look good again.
(That might still happen by the time we get to May next year).
Sir John Curtice pointed out that if this result were repeated Sarwar would not be FM and we would likely end up, once again, with a SNP minority government. In short, good result though this looks this is really against the expectations that were wrong. The underlying result is quite a long way short of fabulous and Scottish Labour have a bit of work to do.
… which would still be a great result for Reform (and a helpful distraction from their civil war).
I can see them breaking 20%, higher than 25% is more likely on a low turnout/plague on all your houses vote. Would be astonishing if they won, but the SNP nadir seems to have passed for now
I expect the Tories will get squeezed and lose deposit
Labour will also lose deposit in this election as they get squeezed by SNP and Reform. Labours disastrous performance in this election is the only headline of note.
Quoted without comment.
To be fair, Labour nearly lost their deposit. If there'd got just 27 fewer percentage points, then they would have trailed the conservatives, and lost their deposit
Tice claiming the win on BBC R4 and Holyrood 2026.
On a topic previously much discussed, 20mph zones. Some numbers from London:
Total collisions fell by 35% (compared to 12% in the control group) All casualties fell by 36% Fatal or serious injuries fell by 34% Child casualties dropped by 46%, and children killed by 75% Among people walking, cycling, or riding motorcycles, killed or seriously injured (KSI) figures were reduced by 28%
… which would still be a great result for Reform (and a helpful distraction from their civil war).
I can see them breaking 20%, higher than 25% is more likely on a low turnout/plague on all your houses vote. Would be astonishing if they won, but the SNP nadir seems to have passed for now
I expect the Tories will get squeezed and lose deposit
Labour will also lose deposit in this election as they get squeezed by SNP and Reform. Labours disastrous performance in this election is the only headline of note.
… which would still be a great result for Reform (and a helpful distraction from their civil war).
I can see them breaking 20%, higher than 25% is more likely on a low turnout/plague on all your houses vote. Would be astonishing if they won, but the SNP nadir seems to have passed for now
I expect the Tories will get squeezed and lose deposit
Labour will also lose deposit in this election as they get squeezed by SNP and Reform. Labours disastrous performance in this election is the only headline of note.
Some posts don't age well....
We all make howlers every now and again.
Absolutely and this place would be pretty dull if people were not willing to stick their necks out occasionally. @MoonRabbit is in illustrious company.
Think Labour actually benefitted from the complete collapse of the Conservative vote here. Obviously it went mainly to Reform but more of the rump went to Labour than the SNP.
If it was anyone else but Trump you would think that they couldn’t cancel the Musk contracts as it would show that they were awarded for personal reasons and not because they were the best options.
As it’s Trump he will not give a monkey’s about people seeing the clear conflict - either the contracts were wrongly awarded or the removal damages the US for personal spite.
Since the contracts existed under Biden too the former doesn't really apply.
If they're removed it will be personal spite, but SpaceX didn't get its contracts for personal reasons.
For most of those contracts, there isn't an alternative. Of course Trump is enough of an idiot to cripple the US space program, just out of spite, but I suspect their business is too important for that to happen in the end.
The company in more difficulty is Tesla, as it's facing consumer backlash in the west, massive competition in China and the loss of US subsidies. Only the last of which is down to Trump.
… which would still be a great result for Reform (and a helpful distraction from their civil war).
I can see them breaking 20%, higher than 25% is more likely on a low turnout/plague on all your houses vote. Would be astonishing if they won, but the SNP nadir seems to have passed for now
I expect the Tories will get squeezed and lose deposit
Labour will also lose deposit in this election as they get squeezed by SNP and Reform. Labours disastrous performance in this election is the only headline of note.
Quoted without comment.
To be fair, Labour nearly lost their deposit. If there'd got just 27 fewer percentage points, then they would have trailed the conservatives, and lost their deposit
Tice claiming the win on BBC R4 and Holyrood 2026.
Its joyous. Swinney went ALL IN with the "you have to vote for us to stop Reform" guff. To see a massive drop in their vote. And Labour beat Reform and the SNP.
Simple truth - despite the disappointment people have in the LabCon government, the bitter resentment by so many against the SNP government is stronger.
And Swinney maintains his extraordinary record in elections. This man knows how to lose.
If it was anyone else but Trump you would think that they couldn’t cancel the Musk contracts as it would show that they were awarded for personal reasons and not because they were the best options.
As it’s Trump he will not give a monkey’s about people seeing the clear conflict - either the contracts were wrongly awarded or the removal damages the US for personal spite.
Maybe Trump will emulate Putin and start expropriating the billionaires.
And maybe Elon will follow the example of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and start behaving (relatively) ethically.
If it was anyone else but Trump you would think that they couldn’t cancel the Musk contracts as it would show that they were awarded for personal reasons and not because they were the best options.
As it’s Trump he will not give a monkey’s about people seeing the clear conflict - either the contracts were wrongly awarded or the removal damages the US for personal spite.
Maybe Trump will emulate Putin and start expropriating the billionaires.
And maybe Elon will follow the example of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and start behaving (relatively) ethically.
If it was anyone else but Trump you would think that they couldn’t cancel the Musk contracts as it would show that they were awarded for personal reasons and not because they were the best options.
As it’s Trump he will not give a monkey’s about people seeing the clear conflict - either the contracts were wrongly awarded or the removal damages the US for personal spite.
Maybe Trump will emulate Putin and start expropriating the billionaires.
That's what his mate Bannon is calling for. Trump is sufficiently corrupt, and contemptuous of both law and democracy to do it; the majority of Republicans, hopefully not.
Watching former Labour supporter Michelle Mone get eviscerated on the BBC.
What have I learned? She appears to be a bullshitter and the glitterati despise her East End Glasgow peasantry. And in his own mind David Cameron is head and shoulders Britain's greatest ever Prime Minister.
I suspect if there is a single sacrificial lamb for the Johnson Government PPE scandal, that lamb might be blonde.
I found her surprisingly likable at the beginning. She had an intuitive sense of how to sell herself and her product and she worked really hard against the odds. A brilliantly paced documentary which unfolded like a Shakespearian tragedy where the flaw in her character revealed itself quite late on with few clues up until the Mrs Rod Stewart moment and then it was downhill all the way.......
I can understand Cameron wanting more women and more Scottish Tories in the House of Lords but he should have listened to the experienced Scottish businessmen who warned him that Mone was a lot of hype and little substance.
I too liked her at the beginning but she changed both physically and mentally. The more glossy and glamorous she was on the outside, the more rotten she became inside.
Watching former Labour supporter Michelle Mone get eviscerated on the BBC.
What have I learned? She appears to be a bullshitter and the glitterati despise her East End Glasgow peasantry. And in his own mind David Cameron is head and shoulders Britain's greatest ever Prime Minister.
I suspect if there is a single sacrificial lamb for the Johnson Government PPE scandal, that lamb might be blonde.
I found her surprisingly likable at the beginning. She had an intuitive sense of how to sell herself and her product and she worked really hard against the odds. A brilliantly paced documentary which unfolded like a Shakespearian tragedy where the flaw in her character revealed itself quite late on with few clues up until the Mrs Rod Stewart moment and then it was downhill all the way.......
It came across that essentially old money despises new money (although it turned out she didn't have any of that either).
Attacking her because she claimed Wozniak was a childhood hero is something the Johnsonian class would never be questioned over. She is basically being told to get back in her lane.
Mind you her self-promotion was remarkable in its lack of self awareness, and Dougie? Grift (a term used about him in the piece) doesn't begin to cover his career.
Nonetheless, why is she the individual being uniquely chased for the PPE grift? She and Dougie made £60m plus. What happened to the other several billion then?
There’s a dearth of Holyrood by elections to provide data (a side effect of the list system I guess) but what there is tells me that it’s 12 years since the SNP retained a seat. I thought affection for the deceased MSP might get them over the line but obviously not to be.
This result should give Labour a boost. Moreso because Reform look so dishevelled. Despite annoying most people for one reason or another now they've got their footing they're doing a pretty reasonable job.
Despite the polls my guess is if there was an election tomorrow Labour would win again. They are the only Party that look like a credible government and despite teething troubles Starmer is showing himself to be learning on the job and to be faring well internationally. The French seem to rate him!
Let's be fair here. Just because Elon says that Trump is in the Epstein files and just because there are dozens of photos and videos with Trump & Epstein together and just because Trump called Epstein a "terrific guy" who "likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side" and just because Trump said that he's "less so" likely to release the Epstein files because "you don't want to affect people's lives if it's phony stuff in there" and just because his administration has refused to actually release anything doesn't mean... okay yeah he's in the Epstein files. https://x.com/briantylercohen/status/1930722111028650108
Its joyous. Swinney went ALL IN with the "you have to vote for us to stop Reform" guff. To see a massive drop in their vote. And Labour beat Reform and the SNP.
Simple truth - despite the disappointment people have in the LabCon government, the bitter resentment by so many against the SNP government is stronger.
And Swinney maintains his extraordinary record in elections. This man knows how to lose.
A mere neophyte when it comes to the SCons though.
This result should give Labour a boost. Moreso because Reform look so dishevelled. Despite annoying most people for one reason or another now they've got their footing they're doing a pretty reasonable job.
Despite the polls my guess is if there was an election tomorrow Labour would win again. They are the only Party that look like a credible government and despite teething troubles Starmer is showing himself to be learning on the job and to be faring well internationally. The French seem to rate him!
Not so fast.
Tice (whose Limited Company I believe lost) still gets the lion's share of air time on the Today programme.
There’s a dearth of Holyrood by elections to provide data (a side effect of the list system I guess) but what there is tells me that it’s 12 years since the SNP retained a seat. I thought affection for the deceased MSP might get them over the line but obviously not to be.
People are sick of everything being broken but the government saying "we're marvellous, so anything thats broken is the fault of Westminster" just makes them angry.
Yes, you still hear people parrot this line, especially on social media. Cybernats are still a force. But out on the doorstep? The SNP are a long way from being electable. I have no doubt that they will remain a force in Holyrood after the election, but there is no way they are staying as the largest party. No Way.
There’s a dearth of Holyrood by elections to provide data (a side effect of the list system I guess) but what there is tells me that it’s 12 years since the SNP retained a seat. I thought affection for the deceased MSP might get them over the line but obviously not to be.
People are sick of everything being broken but the government saying "we're marvellous, so anything thats broken is the fault of Westminster" just makes them angry.
Yes, you still hear people parrot this line, especially on social media. Cybernats are still a force. But out on the doorstep? The SNP are a long way from being electable. I have no doubt that they will remain a force in Holyrood after the election, but there is no way they are staying as the largest party. No Way.
Your on the doorsteps chat is always a joy if not much utility. Care for a gentleman’s wager on the largest party thing?
One interesting piece of compare & contrast in this byelection.
Purportedly Labour had no chance because their candidate was not campaigning.
Now we find out that the candidate was part of a precisely targeted GOTV campaign calling on all of their pledges 3 or even 4 times. They weren't wasting their time knocking places where their voters weren't, or doing public WE ARE HERE stunts like Swinney.
Morning all. Quite the result! None of the Holyrood parties fell victim to any of the minor parties, everyone squeezed for the top three but expecting anything but that in a by election would be daft. Con > Green > LD order exactly as youd expect. Techne is out and sees ref 31 (=) lab 23 (+1) con 17 (+1) LD 15 (-1) green 8 (-1). As you were
Never been more predictable, surely? It is almost a truism that Farage's parties splinter, that Trump falls out with all his appointees, and that Keir Starmer is master of all he surveys.
One interesting piece of compare & contrast in this byelection.
Purportedly Labour had no chance because their candidate was not campaigning.
Now we find out that the candidate was part of a precisely targeted GOTV campaign calling on all of their pledges 3 or even 4 times. They weren't wasting their time knocking places where their voters weren't, or doing public WE ARE HERE stunts like Swinney.
Data beats performative stunts.
@christopherhope NEW My analysis for @GBNEWS on last night's result: The Hamilton by-election was fought under First Past The Post, which is why reports that Labour flooded the seat with 200 activists made such a difference. It also means that Reform UK was at a disadvantage, as the inexperienced party lacked the necessary data of where its supporters live to get the vote out against the two legacy parties. Next year is different. Reform will benefit from the list system which assigns a proportion of MSPs according to vote share at the Scottish Parliament elections. Senior Reform insiders are now tells me they are looking at winning between 20 and 30 MSPs ("mid-20s") at next year's Holyrood elections. One said: "With a year to go, could we win more seats than either SNP or Labour?
One interesting piece of compare & contrast in this byelection.
Purportedly Labour had no chance because their candidate was not campaigning.
Now we find out that the candidate was part of a precisely targeted GOTV campaign calling on all of their pledges 3 or even 4 times. They weren't wasting their time knocking places where their voters weren't, or doing public WE ARE HERE stunts like Swinney.
Data beats performative stunts.
Lol, someone in the party should have a word with Sir Ed.
Watching former Labour supporter Michelle Mone get eviscerated on the BBC.
What have I learned? She appears to be a bullshitter and the glitterati despise her East End Glasgow peasantry. And in his own mind David Cameron is head and shoulders Britain's greatest ever Prime Minister.
I suspect if there is a single sacrificial lamb for the Johnson Government PPE scandal, that lamb might be blonde.
I found her surprisingly likable at the beginning. She had an intuitive sense of how to sell herself and her product and she worked really hard against the odds. A brilliantly paced documentary which unfolded like a Shakespearian tragedy where the flaw in her character revealed itself quite late on with few clues up until the Mrs Rod Stewart moment and then it was downhill all the way.......
It came across that essentially old money despises new money (although it turned out she didn't have any of that either).
Attacking her because she claimed Wozniak was a childhood hero is something the Johnsonian class would never be questioned over. She is basically being told to get back in her lane.
Mind you her self-promotion was remarkable in its lack of self awareness, and Dougie? Grift (a term used about him in the piece) doesn't begin to cover his career.
Nonetheless, why is she the individual being uniquely chased for the PPE grift? She and Dougie made £60m plus. What happened to the other several billion then?
Yeah I came away from that documentary wondering what most of the fuss was about. Sure, her media image wasn't backed up by her business performance but that's also true of a lot of the dragons on Dragon's Den over the years. It was David Cameron's choice to put her in the Lord's, you could hardly expect her to turn down the offer once it was made. The PPE stuff did seem pretty murky and she reacted to it in a very tone deaf way but that's not uncommon for people who have spent a long time being fawned over as a peer of the realm. Her second marriage seemed like a very poor choice though.
One interesting piece of compare & contrast in this byelection.
Purportedly Labour had no chance because their candidate was not campaigning.
Now we find out that the candidate was part of a precisely targeted GOTV campaign calling on all of their pledges 3 or even 4 times. They weren't wasting their time knocking places where their voters weren't, or doing public WE ARE HERE stunts like Swinney.
Data beats performative stunts.
Its not long since Labour had an excellent Westminster bye election win in broadly the same constituency. They would have had superb polling data to work on. This election was always going to be about who lost the least. Labour were down something like 2%. They got their vote out and they won.
… which would still be a great result for Reform (and a helpful distraction from their civil war).
I can see them breaking 20%, higher than 25% is more likely on a low turnout/plague on all your houses vote. Would be astonishing if they won, but the SNP nadir seems to have passed for now
I expect the Tories will get squeezed and lose deposit
Labour will also lose deposit in this election as they get squeezed by SNP and Reform. Labours disastrous performance in this election is the only headline of note.
Quoted without comment.
To be fair, Labour nearly lost their deposit. If there'd got just 27 fewer percentage points, then they would have trailed the conservatives, and lost their deposit
Tice claiming the win on BBC R4 and Holyrood 2026.
One interesting piece of compare & contrast in this byelection.
Purportedly Labour had no chance because their candidate was not campaigning.
Now we find out that the candidate was part of a precisely targeted GOTV campaign calling on all of their pledges 3 or even 4 times. They weren't wasting their time knocking places where their voters weren't, or doing public WE ARE HERE stunts like Swinney.
Data beats performative stunts.
@christopherhope NEW My analysis for @GBNEWS on last night's result: The Hamilton by-election was fought under First Past The Post, which is why reports that Labour flooded the seat with 200 activists made such a difference. It also means that Reform UK was at a disadvantage, as the inexperienced party lacked the necessary data of where its supporters live to get the vote out against the two legacy parties. Next year is different. Reform will benefit from the list system which assigns a proportion of MSPs according to vote share at the Scottish Parliament elections. Senior Reform insiders are now tells me they are looking at winning between 20 and 30 MSPs ("mid-20s") at next year's Holyrood elections. One said: "With a year to go, could we win more seats than either SNP or Labour?
Let's be fair here. Just because Elon says that Trump is in the Epstein files and just because there are dozens of photos and videos with Trump & Epstein together and just because Trump called Epstein a "terrific guy" who "likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side" and just because Trump said that he's "less so" likely to release the Epstein files because "you don't want to affect people's lives if it's phony stuff in there" and just because his administration has refused to actually release anything doesn't mean... okay yeah he's in the Epstein files. https://x.com/briantylercohen/status/1930722111028650108
This result should give Labour a boost. Moreso because Reform look so dishevelled. Despite annoying most people for one reason or another now they've got their footing they're doing a pretty reasonable job.
Despite the polls my guess is if there was an election tomorrow Labour would win again. They are the only Party that look like a credible government and despite teething troubles Starmer is showing himself to be learning on the job and to be faring well internationally. The French seem to rate him!
Not so fast.
Tice (whose Limited Company I believe lost) still gets the lion's share of air time on the Today programme.
It was classic BBC this morning. “Labour have won the Hamilton by-election gaining the seat from the SNP. We will be interviewing Reform deputy leader Richard Tice about the party’s excellent third place in a few minutes”
This result should give Labour a boost. Moreso because Reform look so dishevelled. Despite annoying most people for one reason or another now they've got their footing they're doing a pretty reasonable job.
Despite the polls my guess is if there was an election tomorrow Labour would win again. They are the only Party that look like a credible government and despite teething troubles Starmer is showing himself to be learning on the job and to be faring well internationally. The French seem to rate him!
Not so fast.
Tice (whose Limited Company I believe lost) still gets the lion's share of air time on the Today programme.
It was classic BBC this morning. “Labour have won the Hamilton by-election gaining the seat from the SNP. We will be interviewing Reform deputy leader Richard Tice about the party’s excellent third place in a few minutes”
Yep, sums it up.
They'll rue the day though when Farage government pulls the plug on the Beeb. You reap what you sow.
Let's be fair here. Just because Elon says that Trump is in the Epstein files and just because there are dozens of photos and videos with Trump & Epstein together and just because Trump called Epstein a "terrific guy" who "likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side" and just because Trump said that he's "less so" likely to release the Epstein files because "you don't want to affect people's lives if it's phony stuff in there" and just because his administration has refused to actually release anything doesn't mean... okay yeah he's in the Epstein files. https://x.com/briantylercohen/status/1930722111028650108
One interesting piece of compare & contrast in this byelection.
Purportedly Labour had no chance because their candidate was not campaigning.
Now we find out that the candidate was part of a precisely targeted GOTV campaign calling on all of their pledges 3 or even 4 times. They weren't wasting their time knocking places where their voters weren't, or doing public WE ARE HERE stunts like Swinney.
Data beats performative stunts.
Lol, someone in the party should have a word with Sir Ed.
Precisely targeted, data driven performative stunts.
Its joyous. Swinney went ALL IN with the "you have to vote for us to stop Reform" guff. To see a massive drop in their vote. And Labour beat Reform and the SNP.
Simple truth - despite the disappointment people have in the LabCon government, the bitter resentment by so many against the SNP government is stronger.
I think I've missed that effect. I thought Labour were so dire as to make the SNP look good again.
(That might still happen by the time we get to May next year).
Doesn't it just show that Scottish Unionism vs Nationalism remains the dominant force in Scottish politics, with Reform being seen as not Scottish enough even for Scottish Unionists?
I am not convinced that it would have been a similar result in England or Wales.
Watching former Labour supporter Michelle Mone get eviscerated on the BBC.
What have I learned? She appears to be a bullshitter and the glitterati despise her East End Glasgow peasantry. And in his own mind David Cameron is head and shoulders Britain's greatest ever Prime Minister.
I suspect if there is a single sacrificial lamb for the Johnson Government PPE scandal, that lamb might be blonde.
I found her surprisingly likable at the beginning. She had an intuitive sense of how to sell herself and her product and she worked really hard against the odds. A brilliantly paced documentary which unfolded like a Shakespearian tragedy where the flaw in her character revealed itself quite late on with few clues up until the Mrs Rod Stewart moment and then it was downhill all the way.......
It came across that essentially old money despises new money (although it turned out she didn't have any of that either).
Attacking her because she claimed Wozniak was a childhood hero is something the Johnsonian class would never be questioned over. She is basically being told to get back in her lane.
Mind you her self-promotion was remarkable in its lack of self awareness, and Dougie? Grift (a term used about him in the piece) doesn't begin to cover his career.
Nonetheless, why is she the individual being uniquely chased for the PPE grift? She and Dougie made £60m plus. What happened to the other several billion then?
That's a good point. The snobbery towards her was the reason she came across so well at the beginning I think. She really was the plucky young girl from Glasgow taking on the world...
In retrospect (I watched it a week ago) maybe the real morality tale is the depressing one that the rags to riches stories are doomed to failure and only those born with a silver spoon can succeed.
There were some unpleasant characters in that story and a bit too much gloating. Though having decided she was part of Johnson's mob and having declared herself a Tory what could she expect?
… which would still be a great result for Reform (and a helpful distraction from their civil war).
I can see them breaking 20%, higher than 25% is more likely on a low turnout/plague on all your houses vote. Would be astonishing if they won, but the SNP nadir seems to have passed for now
I expect the Tories will get squeezed and lose deposit
Labour will also lose deposit in this election as they get squeezed by SNP and Reform. Labours disastrous performance in this election is the only headline of note.
Some posts don't age well....
We all make howlers every now and again.
Absolutely and this place would be pretty dull if people were not willing to stick their necks out occasionally. @MoonRabbit is in illustrious company.
A bit patronising to our well liked lunar psychic! Most of of us would have suffered humiliation stretching into years possibly decades for a similar neck stick out!
Watching former Labour supporter Michelle Mone get eviscerated on the BBC.
What have I learned? She appears to be a bullshitter and the glitterati despise her East End Glasgow peasantry. And in his own mind David Cameron is head and shoulders Britain's greatest ever Prime Minister.
I suspect if there is a single sacrificial lamb for the Johnson Government PPE scandal, that lamb might be blonde.
I found her surprisingly likable at the beginning. She had an intuitive sense of how to sell herself and her product and she worked really hard against the odds. A brilliantly paced documentary which unfolded like a Shakespearian tragedy where the flaw in her character revealed itself quite late on with few clues up until the Mrs Rod Stewart moment and then it was downhill all the way.......
It came across that essentially old money despises new money (although it turned out she didn't have any of that either).
Attacking her because she claimed Wozniak was a childhood hero is something the Johnsonian class would never be questioned over. She is basically being told to get back in her lane.
Mind you her self-promotion was remarkable in its lack of self awareness, and Dougie? Grift (a term used about him in the piece) doesn't begin to cover his career.
Nonetheless, why is she the individual being uniquely chased for the PPE grift? She and Dougie made £60m plus. What happened to the other several billion then?
That's a good point. The snobbery towards her was the reason she came across so well at the beginning I think. She really was the plucky young girl from Glasgow taking on the world...
In retrospect (I watched it a week ago) maybe the real morality tale is the depressing one that the rags to riches stories are doomed to failure and only those born with a silver spoon can succeed.
There were some unpleasant characters in that story and a bit too much gloating. Though having decided she was part of Johnson's mob and having declared herself a Tory what could she expect?
I accept there was snobbery towards her: the whole Steve Wozniak business was trivial and the FT reporter did seem to have a superior attitude. However, Roger has mentioned the Rod Stewart/Penny Lancaster affair. To recap: Penny had been the face (bosom) of Mone's company, Ultimo, for two years. When her contract came to an end, Mone had the chance to replace Penny with Rod's ex-Rachel Hunter. She knew this would generate huge press interest and then issued a statement saying Rachel was an international mode equal to Ronaldo in football terms, whereas Penny was like some Falkirk player. Rod and Penny were particuarly upset as they had been friends with Mone and her then husband. You can't say Rod is old money. When Rod made a statement attacking Mone, she played the victim saying she didn't know anything about football. Mone likes to play the victim, even though she can be ruthless in hunting down those who cross her path.
Watching former Labour supporter Michelle Mone get eviscerated on the BBC.
What have I learned? She appears to be a bullshitter and the glitterati despise her East End Glasgow peasantry. And in his own mind David Cameron is head and shoulders Britain's greatest ever Prime Minister.
I suspect if there is a single sacrificial lamb for the Johnson Government PPE scandal, that lamb might be blonde.
I found her surprisingly likable at the beginning. She had an intuitive sense of how to sell herself and her product and she worked really hard against the odds. A brilliantly paced documentary which unfolded like a Shakespearian tragedy where the flaw in her character revealed itself quite late on with few clues up until the Mrs Rod Stewart moment and then it was downhill all the way.......
It came across that essentially old money despises new money (although it turned out she didn't have any of that either).
Attacking her because she claimed Wozniak was a childhood hero is something the Johnsonian class would never be questioned over. She is basically being told to get back in her lane.
Mind you her self-promotion was remarkable in its lack of self awareness, and Dougie? Grift (a term used about him in the piece) doesn't begin to cover his career.
Nonetheless, why is she the individual being uniquely chased for the PPE grift? She and Dougie made £60m plus. What happened to the other several billion then?
That's a good point. The snobbery towards her was the reason she came across so well at the beginning I think. She really was the plucky young girl from Glasgow taking on the world...
In retrospect (I watched it a week ago) maybe the real morality tale is the depressing one that the rags to riches stories are doomed to failure and only those born with a silver spoon can succeed.
There were some unpleasant characters in that story and a bit too much gloating. Though having decided she was part of Johnson's mob and having declared herself a Tory what could she expect?
I accept there was snobbery towards her: the whole Steve Wozniak business was trivial and the FT reporter did seem to have a superior attitude. However, Roger has mentioned the Rod Stewart/Penny Lancaster affair. To recap: Penny had been the face (bosom) of Mone's company, Ultimo, for two years. When her contract came to an end, Mone had the chance to replace Penny with Rod's ex-Rachel Hunter. She knew this would generate huge press interest and then issued a statement saying Rachel was an international mode equal to Ronaldo in football terms, whereas Penny was like some Falkirk player. Rod and Penny were particuarly upset as they had been friends with Mone and her then husband. You can't say Rod is old money. When Rod made a statement attacking Mone, she played the victim saying she didn't know anything about football. Mone likes to play the victim, even though she can be ruthless in hunting down those who cross her path.
Mone was fairly brutal in self promotion, getting the face of whoever she needed to have engaged, early on.
I'd say a similar tactic did not work when in, the public eye - and someone with profile chose to push back.
I agree it will be very interesting what happens to the other seeming COVID bandwagon jumpers via the VIP route. Was Matt Hancock's publican one of them?
Comments
Looking at the Survation poll - a full Scottish poll but I'm quoting sub-samples from it - 4% of the SNP's GE '24 vote is going to Reform. Whichever way you cut, the SNP is simply not the main source the source of votes - it looks like nearly half of the SCon vote is going Reform, for example.
But the bigger story is that the core Reform base is highly energised (voter retention is 90%+) and they are invigorating lots of new voters. That's the same in Scotland as in England.
If they're removed it will be personal spite, but SpaceX didn't get its contracts for personal reasons.
No wonder Angus Robertson had a face like a smacked bottom on the telly last night.
Both the Reform surging and Starmer dead stories have been a bit overdone in recent months. (Not that they're wrong, but they're not that unambiguously right either). But the hack pack needs an excuse to course-correct.
Simple truth - despite the disappointment people have in the LabCon government, the bitter resentment by so many against the SNP government is stronger.
(That might still happen by the time we get to May next year).
Total collisions fell by 35% (compared to 12% in the control group)
All casualties fell by 36%
Fatal or serious injuries fell by 34%
Child casualties dropped by 46%, and children killed by 75%
Among people walking, cycling, or riding motorcycles, killed or seriously injured (KSI) figures were reduced by 28%
https://etsc.eu/20mph-limits-in-london-linked-to-sharp-fall-in-road-injuries-and-deaths-new-report-finds/
Night of the plastic sporks.
Of course Trump is enough of an idiot to cripple the US space program, just out of spite, but I suspect their business is too important for that to happen in the end.
The company in more difficulty is Tesla, as it's facing consumer backlash in the west, massive competition in China and the loss of US subsidies. Only the last of which is down to Trump.
Trump is sufficiently corrupt, and contemptuous of both law and democracy to do it; the majority of Republicans, hopefully not.
I too liked her at the beginning but she changed both physically and mentally. The more glossy and glamorous she was on the outside, the more rotten she became inside.
Attacking her because she claimed Wozniak was a childhood hero is something the Johnsonian class would never be questioned over. She is basically being told to get back in her lane.
Mind you her self-promotion was remarkable in its lack of self awareness, and Dougie? Grift (a term used about him in the piece) doesn't begin to cover his career.
Nonetheless, why is she the individual being uniquely chased for the PPE grift? She and Dougie made £60m plus. What happened to the other several billion then?
Despite the polls my guess is if there was an election tomorrow Labour would win again. They are the only Party that look like a credible government and despite teething troubles Starmer is showing himself to be learning on the job and to be faring well internationally. The French seem to rate him!
https://x.com/briantylercohen/status/1930722111028650108
This is also a classic.
https://x.com/mvandemar/status/1930722828204253375
Tice (whose Limited Company I believe lost) still gets the lion's share of air time on the Today programme.
Yes, you still hear people parrot this line, especially on social media. Cybernats are still a force. But out on the doorstep? The SNP are a long way from being electable. I have no doubt that they will remain a force in Holyrood after the election, but there is no way they are staying as the largest party. No Way.
Care for a gentleman’s wager on the largest party thing?
Purportedly Labour had no chance because their candidate was not campaigning.
Now we find out that the candidate was part of a precisely targeted GOTV campaign calling on all of their pledges 3 or even 4 times. They weren't wasting their time knocking places where their voters weren't, or doing public WE ARE HERE stunts like Swinney.
Data beats performative stunts.
Quite the result! None of the Holyrood parties fell victim to any of the minor parties, everyone squeezed for the top three but expecting anything but that in a by election would be daft. Con > Green > LD order exactly as youd expect.
Techne is out and sees ref 31 (=) lab 23 (+1) con 17 (+1) LD 15 (-1) green 8 (-1). As you were
NEW My analysis for
@GBNEWS
on last night's result:
The Hamilton by-election was fought under First Past The Post, which is why reports that Labour flooded the seat with 200 activists made such a difference.
It also means that Reform UK was at a disadvantage, as the inexperienced party lacked the necessary data of where its supporters live to get the vote out against the two legacy parties.
Next year is different. Reform will benefit from the list system which assigns a proportion of MSPs according to vote share at the Scottish Parliament elections.
Senior Reform insiders are now tells me they are looking at winning between 20 and 30 MSPs ("mid-20s") at next year's Holyrood elections. One said: "With a year to go, could we win more seats than either SNP or Labour?
They won't have these advantages everywhere.
I’d be amazed if that was the case.
“Labour have won the Hamilton by-election gaining the seat from the SNP. We will be interviewing Reform deputy leader Richard Tice about the party’s excellent third place in a few minutes”
They'll rue the day though when Farage government pulls the plug on the Beeb. You reap what you sow.
Are they loyal to Elon or Donny boy?
NEW THREAD
https://youtu.be/uhOBDeqRn_8?si=LNs_bYymdzr969Zg&t=801
I am not convinced that it would have been a similar result in England or Wales.
Musk bringing up Epstein might be interesting.
In retrospect (I watched it a week ago) maybe the real morality tale is the depressing one that the rags to riches stories are doomed to failure and only those born with a silver spoon can succeed.
There were some unpleasant characters in that story and a bit too much gloating. Though having decided she was part of Johnson's mob and having declared herself a Tory what could she expect?
I'd say a similar tactic did not work when in, the public eye - and someone with profile chose to push back.
I agree it will be very interesting what happens to the other seeming COVID bandwagon jumpers via the VIP route. Was Matt Hancock's publican one of them?