By Mark WallaceFollow Mark on Twitter. I dare say I won't win any prizes for political analysis for this, but it's fair to say that the Liberal Democrats are quite unlike Milwall fans. Neither the woolly jumpers and sandals, the bleeding heart greenery nor Nick Clegg's confession that he "cries to music" would sit comfortably at the […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. I wrote yesterday that it is perhaps surprising not to see the economy or tax in the top five issues raised by respondents to our "red lines" poll. It's therefore necessary to say today that an economic issue came in sixth. On a scale of one to ten, in […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. I reported yesterday that the top "red line" for Conservative Party members for any coalition negotiations with the Liberal Democrats after the 2015 election is holding the In/Out EU referendum in 2017 – after the promised renegotiation. If these commitments are treated as one, the next four red lines […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Utterly unsurprisingly, holding the promised In/Out EU referendum in 2015 was the top "red line" issue for any future Conservative/Liberal Democrat negotiations in our survey which over 800 Conservative Party members answered. We asked respondents to list a series of issues on a scale of one to ten, with […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Recent opinion polls written up by Anthony Wells of YouGov show the Conservatives at 34, 33 and 33 per cent, and Labour at 38, 37 and 37 per cent. Let's apply three conclusions. First, neither of the main parties is in a strong position. Second, David Cameron has closed […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. This month, 24 per cent of respondents said that there will be a Conservative majority after the 2015 election; 24 per cent said there will be a minority Conservative Government and 19 per cent that there will be a second Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition. So just over two-thirds of respondents […]
By Peter HoskinFollow Peter on Twitter One of the most intriguing political stories in today’s papers is tucked away on page 19 of the Guardian. Apparently, the Government is going to do more to “name and shame” those employers who do not pay the minimum wage. According to Jo Swinson, who announced the measure yesterday, “this […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Ed Miliband has broken all the conventional rules of opposition: neutralise your Party's weaknesses, work hard early to make an impression on the electorate, appeal to floating voters. These rules are far from being perfect or complete, but Labour's leader has done himself no good by breaking them. He […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. David Cameron is absolutely right to plan properly for post-2015 election negotiations, as the Daily Telegraph reports today, either with the Liberal Democrats or with other parties (such as the Democratic Unionists, were the numbers to add up). As the paper kindly acknowledges in an editorial, one of my […]
By Peter HoskinFollow Peter on Twitter Like I said a week ago, the summer recess has delivered an upturn in chatter about the Coalition. And, here on ConservativeHome, we added to that chatter this week with a rather striking poll finding: that a majority of party members now say that the Coalition is good for Britain. […]
By Mark WallaceFollow Mark on Twitter. James Wharton, the MP who is bringing forward the Private Member's Bill for an In/Out EU referendum, just tweeted a letter he has received from the Prime MInister. It's interesting, as much for what isn't included as for what is: It reads: "Dear James, I wanted to drop you a line […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. In May, 47 per cent of Conservative members said that the Coalition is good for the country…and 47 per cent said that it isn't. There has been little alteration since then in our surveys, but this month's finds a step change among activists: 59 per cent now say that […]
By Peter HoskinFollow Peter on Twitter Blame it on the heat or whatever, but we’re spending a lot of time talking about the shelf-life of the Coalition at the moment. There was my post last Saturday, itself a distillation of articles by Matthew Parris and Simon Heffer, about when the Tories and Lib Dems should split […]
By Peter HoskinFollow Peter on Twitter There are two particular reasons, at the moment, to discuss whether and when David Cameron should break the bonds of coalition. First, there’s the spirit of self-confidence that has descended on the Tories with the hot weather. Second, there’s the fact that so many simmering divisions between Conservatives and Lib […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. It would be an exaggeration to write that every Conservative born into the world alive is either a Little Authoritarian or a Little Libertarian. But how much of one? The result of our last monthly survey question about the Communications Data Bill (a.k.a the Snooper's Charter) may point towards […]