Kemi’s improving ratings – politicalbetting.com
Kemi’s improving ratings – politicalbetting.com
The number of Britons seeing Kemi Badenoch as a PM in waiting has increased significantly in the last monthDoes look like PM in waiting: 21% (+9 from 1-3 Nov)Does not look like PM in waiting: 53% (-10)yougov.co.uk/topics/polit…
0
Comments
A Tory recovery was always likely to be a long process consisting of many steps. This is step one. Now we'll see if she can take step two.
Of course the banter heuristic would see Tory MPs ditch her after the elections next spring, returning the party back to the start of the process.
Otherwise he might as well join Reform.
Things may be looking up, but only because they are flat on their back in a ditch!
A couple of people are wondering about taking Starmer’s spade away…
I find Badenoch preposterous. The only, but nevertheless critical, thing going for her is she's better than Farage and Jenrick who would be catastrophic for the country. So long may her relative popularity continue, I guess,?
I think the Cons were doing surprisingly well post election, until they selected Kemi, and then we had the Reform-gasm. But she seems to be improving in herself and doing what needs to be done in getting attention.
I guess the party needs to build a narrative to itself that isnt an ape of Reform, but one that stands for sensible management of the economy and the public finances. This is a less crowded space than it used to be, and surely must be the thing that the Cons can build on.
This innings feels like it’s going to end with Root on 99 not out. Or possibly with him the last man out, for 99, run out coming back for a third.
https://x.com/patrick_kidd/status/1996493415606112657
I think Jenrick is one of Badenochs best assets. The strongest argument for keeping her is the ghastly alternatives.
It's the largest ever donation by any individual to any British political party, excluding money left in wills
https://x.com/hzeffman/status/1996496294404309410
Good morning, everybody.
For those with mental health issues, treatment should be available. And there should be points of contact available for that. If someone goes to a doctor to seek assistance to die, and gets signposted to get support that they need first, then that could potentially save a life over that same person feeling they have no choice but to end it on their own.
But for those who have made a clear, rational choice then that choice should be respected. There should be a safe, humane and clean way to end their life - if that is their careful and considered choice.
Stepping in front of a train, or jumping off a bridge, or hanging yourself at home, or cutting your wrists in the bathtub, or any of the other multitude of inhumane ways people can end their lives without assistance should NEVER be the solution.
Even if one believes that people are free to do what they like with their money, one individual dropping that much cash warps the game on a way that matters because it's not a game.
(Incidentally, got a paid-for mailshot from Reform recently. They're going big on crime and Khan, even though neither of those is really a borough issue.
There was a survey asking what sort of crime I was most concerned about. Sadly "taking bribes from hostile states" wasn't an option.)
‘The best thing you can say about Harry Brook’s dismissal is that he was wearing a helmet.’
We really ought to have some sort of limits on party funding, or we'll go the way of the US. The wealthy already have disproportionate influence; there should be a limit on just how far that extends.
This morning, the State Department renamed the former Institute of Peace to reflect the greatest dealmaker in our nation's history.
Welcome to the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. The best is yet to come.
https://x.com/StateDept/status/1996368099160080884
Much depends on the answers. It won't become obvious how important it is to people who don't follow this stuff until nearer the time.
Indeed many of those saved by the rescue services regret their action
Her own backbenchers were chanting more yesterday at PMQs. A few months ago she quietly reorgnanised her back room team and the results speak for themselves. TSE talks about his Conservative Westminster mole who clearly does not like her and who has continually briefed against her very negatively, but that does not mean they are going to recognise the very clear shift in opinion among both the lobby and the electorate as a result in the last few weeks.
Kemi took on the toughest gig in politics when she became the leader of the Conservative party after the last GE, no one wanted to give the party a hearing never mind a favourable nod over the last year, but here we are with her setting the political agenda and all over the media with Farage and Reform nowhere to be seen for the first time in a nearly a year. No wonder Farage has panicked and is now aiming his guns at Kemi Badenoch and the Conservative party right now instead of the incumbent and failing Labour party, but he and his party has stalled in the polls and are now going backwards. Hence the yeah, but no, but yeah but no briefings about a future pact with the Conservatives but only in a deal that subjugates them into the junior partners.
By the way, where has Farage been in recent weeks, and apart from his week day show on GB news...?
Farage now needs to set up a proper Shadow Cabinet and research team, as is done by the Official Opposition Tories with MPs and Short Money, and start developing actual departmental policy ahead of the election.
The Green man is no longer listed on tomorrow's HIGNFY (although no replacement is named) after being signed up to tonight's QT.
How very Trumpian...
This bitchy centrist left wing Dad kind of agrees with. I wouldn't overegg, but she has definitely improved.
Now if something similar could be done with the Party....
39.4
That’s well into contraction territory .
There really should be some sort of constitutional methodology by which local elections can’t be postponed. The re-organisation of local government shouldn’t be a reason not to give the People their say on who governs them at a local level.
Perhaps the Lords can have their say, as they undoubtedly will on a number of other legislative actions that weren’t in the manifesto.
Presumably the SoS for local Gov't (Steve Reed) or more likely one of his Whitehall flunkies now makes the final call - but when ?
Still working from ‘spare’ device since Safari on my desktop can’t open ‘pb’.
I can see the point of not electing the District Councils, since we don’t yet know the structure., certainly in Essex.But we know the overall boundaries of the Mayoral districts…… the current counties, so why not elect the mayors and let them participate in the discussions?
It’s about choices.
Huge chunks of the cost of construction are from regulation. The idea that regulation is cost free, so is always an undiluted benefit is deep rooted, in many places.
Edit: "Ohhh dear" as my daughter sometimes pipes up when things have gone wrong..
#TheAshes
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3k7xdy193o
Quack quack quack, that’s a long walk back!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yjg2r7z9zo
..The new DPPs were intended to provide "sweeping" powers for councils to fast-track growth in regions outside London and, at the time, the government said the new positions would be created "at pace".
Now, all six of those new devolution priority programme (DPP) areas have announced they will delay their mayoral elections, originally planned for May 2026.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) announced the first mayoral election in Cumbria had been pushed back a year in July, with councils saying combining the mayoral with planned local elections in 2027 would "save significant resources".
Cheshire & Warrington followed suit in September, pushing back its first mayoral election from to May 2027 to fit in with full council elections beinhg held at the same time.
An urgent question has been lodged at parliament by Conservative MP and shadow local government minister David Simmonds.
A formal announcement is expected later, and the government will argue that the areas need more to time to complete their local government reorganisation, which maintain the existing councils but see them working together on decisions impacting the entire county or regional area.
The body representing district councils warned at the time that the plans could spark "turmoil" and argued "mega-councils" could undermine local decision-making...
But I am otherwise in complete agreement. The excuse for postponing the reorganisation, and with it the mayoral elections, is at best threadbare, and looks very much like simple political calculation.
Et voila!
Strictly speaking, Stokes was run out as I was walking to the front door, but close enough
1) I've just had my business rates evaluation for 2026 through. £5k increase. If it had been £500, I would have shrugged my shoulders and paid it. As it is, I've just had a specialist business rates surveyor out who is challenging my listing for me. He gets 25% of whatever we reduce the bill by for the next 3 years, and seems reasonably confident that he can challenge the VOA's very dubious assumptions (the VOA have decided my ratable value twice my actual rent, which is pretty much bang on the market rate), and quite likely get my ratable value reduced below the SBR threshold again (at which point my bill is zero).
2) Following on from the 2% increase in dividend rates, I've just had a conversation with my accountant. I've a stonking directors loan account in my favour (i.e. I've previously brought forward tax to turn company money into my money whilst the rates are reasonable). I'm unlikely now to pay any more dividend tax for the foreseeable future (i.e. longer than the life of this government). I'll only draw a £12570 tax free wage, and charge the company interest on my (very large) directors loan, means I get the first £17,750 tax free, and if I need to I can top up beyond that at only 22% tax (providing the interest rate I chose to charge is reasonable, which it will be), or just draw down some of my directors loan balance.
I won't be the only small business owner thinking on the same lines (my accountant said he's had half a dozen such conversations already this week).
Whatever the official line might be.
By the third test, they might actually be competitive.
https://x.com/UKDefJournal/status/1996460269157953868
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on Wednesday slammed European NATO allies for prioritizing their own defense industry over American arms suppliers, according to three NATO diplomats.
https://x.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1996309465105055876
The consultation with stakeholders and the public needs a bit of time, underway now.
The really hard job is abolishing the existing councils and constituting new ones, and dealing with the shedload of legal, finacial, staffing, property, organisational and service delivery issues that such a huge unheaval will involve. During which at some point the 'new' councillors will be elected - hopefully early enough that they can have some input to the final structures for their council, rather than having the whole thing designed and implemented by administrators - but not so early that they are elected to a council that doesn't actually exist, physically or in law.
Anyone here from an area that went through a similar major change during the Tory years? (when elections were also postponed)
https://thegeekpage.com/err_ssl_version_or_cipher_mismatch/
There's a suggestion out there (disclaimer - unproven so far) that GDLS is actively preparing to fraudulently blame the army for the problems with the system.
Also, for ther record, the postponement of the Holyrood elections when Westminster decided it wanted the slot - in 2016 I think but memory is hazy.
No more milk for you.
There was an article linked here the other day that suggested they need serious chassis modifications to meet the Army’s spec.
What it was really saying is that the system isn't fit for purpose, and they're trying to get another billion or so to make unproven modifications.
The example they gave (the US Booker, which is based around the same, unbuilt Spanish design) has had the program cancelled by the US in June this year.
None of them in Tory-led Councils though.
Ousted SOUTHCOM Commander Admiral Holsey “had initial concerns about the legality of lethal strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, according to former officials aware of the discussions.”
Shortly after taking over Southern Command, Hegseth told Admiral Holsey: “You’re either on the team or you’re not,” according to notes from a participant on the VTC. “When you get an order, you move out fast and don’t ask questions.”
https://x.com/JenGriffinFNC/status/1996403225260359797
The actual law which governs the military chain of command says otherwise.