James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
YouGov’s first poll of the year had the Tories on 40 and nine points ahead of Labour. Its latest one has the Tories on 39 and Labour on 29. So despite the two Tory wobbles, in terms of the battle between the big two, little has changed over the past 90 odd days. The Tories,
There was a time when Peter Mandelson would let out a few notes and the media would dance to his tune. But this weekend there’s been a Mandelson interview in The Times, a Mandelson interview in The Sunday Times, a Mandelson appearance on Sky News and an Obama campaign-style memo from Mandelson and none have
The Sunday Times has a story today that gives you a sense of the personal animosities bubbling just below the surface of Labour’s election campaign: “The Sunday Times has learnt that Charlie Whelan, the political director of Unite, the super-union, has been barred from entering Labour headquarters during the campaign. Mandelson is understood to have
The sense that things are moving the Tories way will be further bolstered by YouGov for the Sunday Times which has the Tories ahead by ten points, 39 to 29. As Conservative Home points out, this is the first time this year that Labour have been below 30 with YouGov. It is also the biggest
In a campaign, momentum matters. It is, for good or ill, the prism through which the media report things. Reading the papers and listening to the news this weekend, it is evident that it is the Tories who have it. Just contrast, the way in which the Osborne and Mandelson interviews are written up in
James Forsyth reviews the week in politics When all the Tory staff moved into the soulless Millbank complex for the election campaign, they were addressed by George Osborne in his role as campaign director. They were told that the next 60 days were the most important period of their professional lives. For no one in
It might be Good Friday, but with the election only a little more than a month away politics is continuing pretty much as normal. This morning, we’ve already had more business leaders coming out in support of the Tory position on National Insurance, a combative Bob Crow demanding that John Humphrys apologise for using the
A new ICM poll for the Guardian has the Tory lead at nine points, 38 to 29. However, both main parties have fallen back since the last ICM poll which had the Tories on 39 and Labour on 31. This new ICM poll has the Lib Dems on 23, up four since the last ICM
Despite what the headline might make you think, this item is not an April Fool. In a web chat with Saga magazine, Brown said: “We made it possible for people to transfer their allowances so…between husband and wife…and that means widows for example can have the full benefit of the husband’s previous allowance, and that
As declaration day (the rather pompus name that news organisations have come up with for the moment when Gordon Brown actually calls the election) draws nearer, the Tory campaign is sharpening up. This morning’s operation on National Insurance was impressive, enabling the party to get a second set of headlines out of its plan to
This morning, David Cameron and a large chunk of the Shadow Cabinet were talking in some detail about how the Conservatives will enable a Big Society. To do that, they are going to have to stop state-run organisation crushing community initiatives. Take the case of MyPolice. This website was set up to let people
I have heard two examples of government waste this morning which make you realise just how much money there is to be saved. The first was of a £1000 photocopier that cost £35000. The second was of a toilet worth £10000 bought for £50000. Both of these examples of waste come from the education budget.
During the last Tube strike, a couple of lines kept going. As I made my way home by a rather circuitous route, I was intrigued that all the anger on the platforms was directed not at Transport for London or the new mayor but the unions. The general sentiment was that all the strikers should
Oliver Letwin is often mocked for putting things in over-complicated language, for talking about ‘a shift in the theory of the State from a provision-based paradigm to a framework-based paradigm’. But in his interview with the Wall Street Journal Europe, Letwin sums up the Cameron vision for public services with admirable clarity: ‘Hospitals compete for
In this post-expenses election, there is going to be a considerable vote going for the none of the above party. The Lib Dems are clearly determined to try and tap into this vote. At PMQs in recent weeks, Nick Clegg has constantly sought to attack Labour and the Tories as different sides of the same
There are few more damaging allegations against the trustee of a charity than that they forged the signature of a fellow trustee on a document. But that is what Khalid Mahmood, the MP for Birmingham Perry Bar, is alleging has happened to him. Mahmood told the Sunday Times that his signature had been forged on
Gordon Brown and David Cameron have just been facing each other in the Commons chamber. Brown was notionally reporting back on the European summit meeting, but in relaity Brown and Cameron were setting the stage for the Chancellor’s debate tonight. Cameron claimed that there was a new dividing line in British politics, the Tories for
The Tories now have a clear message on personal taxation, ‘you’ll pay less under the Conservatives.’ Their announcement today that they will reverse, for seven in ten workers, Labour’s increase in the tax on jobs is welcome news. As I said in the Mail on Sunday, turning the spotlight on the National Insurance hike shows
Tomorrow’s Chancellor’s debate is going to be one of the key set pieces of the campaign. Labour are convinced that George Osborne is the weak link in the Tory campaign and their attempt to target him will be turned up another notch if he turns in a disappointing performance. Vince Cable will see this as
The debate in Tory circles about strategy earlier in the year was overly polarised. Some argued that the party should run a purely positive campaign, that going negative at all would just make voters see the Tories as the ‘nasty party’ again. Others thought that all the Tories needed to do to win, was to