Politics

Read about the latest UK political news, views and analysis.

Saturday

David Blackburn

The impediment to a Lib-Lab coalition

Certainly, the Lib Dems’ current joy will prove transient; but for the first time since 1983 this is a three party race. As Pete notes, Labour see Nick Clegg as the surest means to keep the Tories out of office. Even before the debate, the normally cerebral Andrew Adonis was penning passionate articles appealing to Lib Dem support. Since the debate, the love-bombing campaign has become indiscriminate .   Love isn’t all you need. Labour will need nous to make the most of the opportunity Clegg has presented. Over at Spectator Live, Will Straw argues that Labour should ‘play the long game’ by being obsequious whilst airing the few differences

Daniel Korski

Nick Clegg: the Hans-Dietrich Genscher of Britain

Nick Clegg has always said that if no party can command a majority in parliament, he will support the party voters have been seen to support. It was assumed that if the Tories were the biggest party – but a few members short of an outright majority – he would back them. But if the YouGov poll comes true, on a uniform swing Labour will be the largest party and the Liberal Democrats still the third largest party in parliament but with 90-odd seats. With Labour out front, Clegg’s logic would suggest he would back a Labour-led government. But Clegg’s poor relationship with Gordon Brown is well known and with

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

The contempt that the two main parties are held in

Anyone seen any political posters up in windows and gardens etc? I’ve been around a few constituencies and have seen one placard – for the Tory candidate for Redditch – in a field on the edge of her territory, and that’s it. The general lack of enthusiasm for this election at least in part explains the otherwise mystifying popularity of Mr Clegg; anything but the other two. Votes for our two main parties have reduced massively since 1992, down from nearly 26 million to just over 18 million in 2005; my guess is that it will be down again this time. Interestingly it hasn’t been the Lib Dems who have

Peter Hoskin

Responding to the Lib Dem surge

We’ve had the insta-polls and that eyectaching YouGov poll, and now we get the political reaction to Thursday’s TV debate.  Interviewed in the Times, Alan Johnson plays up what Labour and the Lib Dems have “in common,” and opens the door on a potential coalition.  While, in the Telegraph, David Cameron sets about Lib Dems policies – attacking, for instance, the “flimsy backing” to their plan for making the first £10,000 of income tax-free These different responses to the Lib Dem surge are stiking, if predictable.  Labour see Clegg as an opportunity: an opportunity to whitewash Brown’s mechanical performance in the TV debate, and to keep the Tories out of

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Even those sympathetic to the ideas in the Tory manifesto see they are not pub-ready

James Forsyth reviews the week in politics ‘But has it cut through?’ This is the concern that nags at the Tories after every announcement. They know that they are winning the day-to-day battle in the media but they worry about whether this is making any difference in the country. They fret that the campaign, so far, is a piece of political drama for the political class and that the electorate are tuning it out. Those who return from the election frontlines to Conservative Campaign Head-quarters bring back the message that the voters are disillusioned. In the words of one shadow Cabinet member, they are ‘swimming against an incredibly strong current

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

How did Labour know where to aim its cancer-scare mailshot?

Gordon Brown’s latest campaign slogan — ‘Vote Labour or Die of Cancer’ — has a certain apocalyptic vigour about it, don’t you think, even if it was implied rather than directly stated? The party sent out 250,000 ‘postcards’ to women, although they were not the sort of postcards you get when your Aunt Jemima’s been on holiday in Lyme Regis for the week. The gist was: if the Tories get in they’ll stop your chemo, you mug. Or you won’t get treated at all, in time, and you’ll probably die. This caused a small furore — we’ll come to why the furore was a muted furore, rather than a howl

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Spectator debate: ‘Pity Cameron’s a Heath not a Thatcher’

Last week’s Spectator debate — ‘Britain’s in decline again. Pity Cameron is a Heath not a Thatcher’ — looked at the nature of a future Tory government under David Cameron. Last week’s Spectator debate — ‘Britain’s in decline again. Pity Cameron is a Heath not a Thatcher’ — looked at the nature of a future Tory government under David Cameron. Proposing the motion, Simon Heffer surprised everyone by launching into a warm tribute to Ted Heath. ‘A serious talent’, Heath had been hobbled by a ‘terrible desire to let the state take control’. In office he demonstrated a fatal ‘flexibility of principle’. Heffer worried that Cameron had the same predilection

Hugo Rifkind Hugo Rifkind

I could never be comfortable on the left — there’s just too much hate there

‘Samantha is actually very unconventional,’ said David Cameron, a few months ago. ‘She went to day school.’ I first saw that the other day, quoted in an article by the Independent’s Johann Hari. I love it. I can’t think why I hadn’t come across it before. It’s not quite up there with Jacob Rees-Mogg at his best (‘I do wish you wouldn’t keep going on about my nanny. If I had a valet you’d think it was perfectly normal’), or Guy Ritchie’s voice, or the way Prince Harry’s girlfriend dresses, but still, it’s a corker of the genre. I go weak for this sort of thing. People pretending they’re not

Martin Vander Weyer Martin Vander Weyer

How a slammed door made me wonder whether the Tories could ever win again

Martin Vander Weyer’s Any Other Business Bored by the election already? If you want to avoid it completely, I suggest a three-week holiday in scenic Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, where the national dish is boiled horse, the national pastime is bride-kidnapping, and they still change governments the old-fashioned way, with a little help from their friends in the Kremlin. But if you merely dislike watching our own politicians sniping at each other on television, and yearn for a form of debate that addresses real-life issues, I recommend signing on to help your local candidate, of whichever party you prefer, in door-to-door campaigning. I did it in the last four general

Friday

David Blackburn

A gentle fightback

The consensus is that David Cameron made a mess of last night’s TV debate. And whilst he wasn’t bad, he certainly wasn’t good, especially to watch. In a post over at Cappuccino Culture, I make the point that Cameron was the most static and soulless feature of a static and soulless piece of television. Undoubtedly the Tories’ greatest presentational asset, his subdued performance is inexplicable. Whilst there is no cause for panic the Tories are rightly trying to regain the initiative. Gary Barlow’s appearance with Cameron at a school this morning didn’t relight Dave’s, or anyone else’s, fire. But Paul Waugh reports that the Tories are beginning to point out

The Spectator

The week that was | 16 April 2010

Keep up to date with the election on Spectator Live, where Gaby Hinsliff urges the need for police reform. Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week: The Leaders’ Debate: Fraser Nelson believes that the novelty of Nick Clegg won it for him. James Forsyth celebrates a good night for democracy. Peter Hoskin thinks that though Clegg won outright, it wasn’t all bad for Cameron.         Martin Bright congratulates all those involved and argues that Gordon Brown did well. Alex Massie’s list reads Clegg wins, Brown survives and Cameron misses. And Cappuccino Culture thought it was dreadful television. The Manifesto Launches: Fraser Nelson praises a great

Martin Bright

Where Did Labour’s Funniest Line Originate?

I must say I had a chuckle at Alastair Campbell’s tweet during the leaders’ debate: “Clegg done well on style, Cameron clear winner on shallowness, GB winner on substance”.  I had another chuckle when Alan Johnson used the line in the post-debate analysis and now I see David Miliband congratulating Alan Johnson for using it and  Miliband’s comments being recirculated by eager Labourites. So who stole it from whom? For we socialists all property is theft and everything should be owned in common so I guess it doesn’t really matter. But it is amusing to see how pleased everyone is with this one-liner.

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Face it folks, Cameron Was Third in a Three Horse Race

How do you know that Cameron lost the debate last night? Well, normally sensible people such as Iain Dale start making excuses for his poor performance and arguing that losing was actually part of a cunning plot to win. Seriously: There were several moments last night when David Cameron could have gone in for the kill on Gordon Brown. But he didn’t. You could almost sense him wanting to pin the PM down an pummel him on the lack of equipment to the military. But he didn’t. He wanted to eviscerate him on the deficit. But he didn’t. Why? It must have been a predetermined strategy based on the fact

David Blackburn

What the polls say about the leaders’ debate

More concrete information will emerge over the next few days, and it may be sensible to reserve judgement until then. But the polling data we have so far is unanimous: Nick Clegg walked it. Here are some of the polls: YouGov: Who performed best in the TV debates? Clegg: 51 percent Cameron: 29 percent Brown: 19 percent Com Res: Who won the debate? Clegg: 46 percent Cameron: 26 percent Brown 20: percent Populus: Who won the leaders’ debate? Clegg 61: percent Cameron: 22 percent Brown 17: percent Angus Reid: Who came out on top? Clegg: 48 percent Cameron: 20 percent Brown: 18 percent PS: As ever, Anthony Wells’s analysis is

Peter Hoskin

So what’s changed?

The question is: how much has really changed after last night?  And the answer is hard to pin down.  There are the plastic, surface changes, of course.  Nick Clegg may now be recognised by more that one-third of the nation.  His party will probably come under greater scrutiny from the media and his opponents.  And the leaders’ debate is here to stay; a defining feature of this election which will become a standard feature of future contests. But what about deeper change?  Well, I can understand the argument – made punchily by Gideon Rachman here – that this will increase the likelihood of a hung Parliament.  That’s probably true.  But

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Clegg Wins, Brown Survives and Cameron Misses

So who won? For the first half-hour at least that wasn’t in doubt: the Daily Mail vanquished all opponents. On immigration and crime all three men tried to out-populist one another. Who knew that foreign students were such a threat to this green and pleasant land? Who knew that foreign chefs could possibly be such a danger? When Nick Clegg recounted an anecdote about how a poor chap had been burgled while at his father’s funeral one half-expected him to add that, “And by the way, the father was murdered by a cleaver-wielding Vietnamese chef…” True, David Cameron was right to stress the importance of rehabilitation and, later, of welfare

Thursday

Martin Bright

The Leaders’ Debate: Well Done Chaps

Shall we stop being cynical for a moment and congratulate Brown, Cameron and Clegg for being the first political leaders in Britain to take part in a televised election debate? Indeed, we should particularly congratulate Gordon Brown for agreeing to this. He had by far the most to lose. There is absolutely no doubt that Nick Clegg won this. He faltered from time to time, but was the only one confident enough to take thoughtful (if sometimes stagey) pauses.  I thought Gordon Brown also did surprisingly well. He kept his cool and showed that he is an accomplished debater. His jokes were over-prepared and characteristically dreadful, but he warmed up

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The novelty of Clegg wins it for him

“I agree with Nick”, said Brown – and, as it turned out, so did most of the people YouGov polled. Brown lived right down to expectations, Cameron lived up to them (but didn’t exceed them). Few would have had any expectations from Clegg: what we political pundits know to be his clichés will be heard for the first time in many living rooms tonight. Each used tactics we’re familiar with. Brown opened his verbal machine gun, and sought to mow down the audience (they surrendered early on). David Cameron was fluent, articulate – as anyone who has followed politics had come to expect. But dazzling? No. He was subdued, seemed

Peter Hoskin

Nick Clegg triumphs – and Cameron gains – in the first TV debate

So, who won?  Well, hold your horses, dear CoffeeHouser.  First, it’s worth noting that that was a good shade more compelling than I thought it would be.  There were moments of heat, drama and political tension, of course.  But there was also a sprinkling of light as well.  I suspect anyone watching that would have picked up a working sense of the differences and similarities between the parties and their leaders. So, who won?  Well, it depends what you mean by “won”.  Nick Clegg certainly gained most from the evening.  He was confident, coherent and had a strong line on almost every policy area, whether you agreed with those lines