Tag Archives: CONSERVATIVES
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It’s polling day! – Five things to know about today
2May 7, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
1. Rules for the poll booth – For those of you for whom today is your first opportunity to vote, congratulations, …
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How should I vote tomorrow? 2 – the Parties
2May 6, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
The problem for me is that I know too much. It is not a matter of conceit, but a fact …
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A look at what might happen on May 8th
Leave a commentMay 4, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
So here we are, the final week of this election campaign and it has a different feel to most UK …
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The importance of knowing why you want to be Prime Minister
Leave a commentMay 3, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
I have a question for you. Why do David Cameron and Ed Miliband want to be Prime Minister? Try and …
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5 Thoughts about Thursday’s Leaders’ Question Time
13May 2, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
1. What a fine advert for our democracy that was The star of the programme was the audience. Excellently researched …
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Tories’ Tax promise speaks volumes about..Tory promises
1May 1, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Before the 2010 election, the Conservatives said that they wouldn’t raise VAT should they be in government after it. They …
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The Joy of Contribsx – Who is Grant Shapps’ biggest fan?
Leave a commentApril 25, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Some election commentators have noted this week that one in five of the general public had no idea of who …
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Will the main parties ever come clean about their actual tax and spending plans?
Leave a commentApril 24, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Yesterday’s election news was dominated for a time by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (an independent think tank aiming to …
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Why the Conservatives are panicking
Leave a commentApril 22, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
It’s worth ignoring the polls at the moment. They are coming up with huge swings, with some suggesting the Conservatives …
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Why a Conservative / SNP pact after the General a Election is more likely than you think
Leave a commentApril 20, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Somewhere, deep in Conservative Party headquarters, under some kind of secret codename, and most probably dressed in black, will be …
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The Conservative Manifesto relies on us trusting them. Have they earned it?
6April 15, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
If you ever wanted to understand how close this election is, just think about this: The Conservative manifesto is all …
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Renewal of Trident is NOT a condition of SNP putting Labour back in No 10
Leave a commentApril 11, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
“Remember: Ed Miliband stabbed his own brother in the back to become Labour leader. Now he is willing to stab …
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Why Labour should be spending a lot more time attacking Tory efficiency than Tory cruelty
Leave a commentApril 5, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
The advertising guru Maurice Saatchi noted, just after the shock election victory by the Conservatives in 1992, that ‘cruel but …
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Post-election Chaos – could it include Cameron the ‘squatter’?
Leave a commentApril 4, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
In a sign of the chaos to come from May 8th, Labour have been taking legal advice to try and …
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The leaders’ debate. How they rated.
4April 3, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
So that was the mass debate (stop saying it quickly at the back). Seven adults shouting at each other repeating …
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Milibounce – Ed thrives under Paxman pressure
Leave a commentMarch 30, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
After all the bluff and bluster, this was the start of the election campaign proper. Expectations were low, given the …
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Conservatives most seats, coalition impossible. Current poll predictions analysed.
Leave a commentMarch 29, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
You may be confused, given the forecast at the moment is for the Labour and Conaervative share of the vote …
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Nothing can be ruled out when it comes to post-election deals
Leave a commentMarch 28, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
A few weeks ago, the Conservatives released a poster by their advertising agency containing a large Alex Salmond with Ed …
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Why the Conservatives should talk more about the NHS
1March 27, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
There are a lot of frustrated people following this election campaign. Journalists are frustrated by only receiving pre-prepared soundbites and …
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Salmond’s honesty gives us a tantalising view into post-election chaos
1March 26, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
In these days of people complaining that politicians don’t give a straight answer to questions, it has been refreshing to …
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Cameron turns the election campaign into a leadership campaign. Why?
Leave a commentMarch 25, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
What was he thinking? I mean, really, what was he thinking? The whole concept of the Conservatives’ election campaign was …
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Will the shy Tories lead them to a Likud-like victory?
Leave a commentMarch 24, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
A few weeks ago I wrote about the concept of the “shy Tory”. These are the members of the electorate …
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The “long grass economic plan” budget
Leave a commentMarch 19, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Well, what a budget that wasn’t. It was supposed to be an election giveaway, but it wasn’t really. It was …
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Whither the environment in this election?
1March 17, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Has anyone else noticed the lack of any debate or attention during this election campaign on the issues of the …
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The Labour pledge card is a “no hard choices” list of incrementally more progressive Miss World statements
Leave a commentMarch 16, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
I have a friend who is a lifelong Labour Party supporter. At the next election he is not only intending to …
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Free Schools – Vive la Difference!
1March 11, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
At last we have a proper issue on which the parties are properly split. It is an important one as …
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Cameron the beaver dodges the debate-truck
Leave a commentMarch 6, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
David Cameron’s PPE tutor said very early on in his career that he was the brightest student he ever taught. …
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Unrealistic targets are not the way to deal with the politics of immigration
Leave a commentMarch 5, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Talk to people around the country about immigration, and they will say that it is a really important topic for …
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Straw and Rifkind – the scandal we deserved
2February 26, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
An important starting point for this blog is that few people actually understand the nature of an MP’s job and …
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Conservative welfare policies are too easily badged with “nasty party” to win them an election
3February 19, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Margaret Thatcher’s lasting legacy to the Conservative Party seems to be that when they say “long-term economic plan” many people …
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Successfully bashing the Conservatives is not necessarily a successful week for Labour
Leave a commentFebruary 17, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
At first glance, it looks like Labour had a very good week last week. Starting off by pointing out the …
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Plain packaging on cigarettes – could it actually increase smoking?
Leave a commentFebruary 6, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Here’s an easy task. Explain to someone why anyone who opposes the policy of removing branding from cigarette packets must …
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UK Party leader debates….it’s just not how our democracy works
Leave a commentJanuary 27, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
That the Party leader debates should happen seems to be obvious to everyone. But a closer look at what they …
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Amjad Bashir – time for political parties to do a lot more research on defectors
Leave a commentJanuary 26, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Political parties love defections. They say to the public, the parties think, that the defector is so ridden with doubt …
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Let’s hear it for the “Shy Tories”
1January 25, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Why do different amounts of people vote Conservative as the number that tell polls they are going to? Those who …
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The Coalition’s employment record – Labour’s jobs myths or Conservatives’ massaged figures?
Leave a commentJanuary 20, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
David Cameron has put the Conservatives’ record on employment at their heart of their election battle plan. In a speech …
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A Tory-Lib Dem coalition in May 2015 will only happen with a massive reduction in Lib Dem influence
1January 19, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Reports emerged earlier this month that the Conservatives are planning to change the way Coalitions are formed to limit the …
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The NHS is a political football for a good reason
Leave a commentJanuary 13, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
First of all, let me get something straight. Labour has every right to use the NHS as a political football, …
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Why David Cameron wants the Green Party in the TV debates
Leave a commentJanuary 12, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
It isn’t very difficult to understand why David Cameron has insisted that he won’t be involved in the planned TV …
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The Blair B*tch project – why New Labour DIDN’T need such large majorities
Leave a commentJanuary 11, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
The further away we get from Tony Blair’s Premiership, the harder it is for my students to understand why the …
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Four possible election outcomes and what they would mean
Leave a commentJanuary 10, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Towards the end of last year the pollster Peter Kellner from YouGov set out in The Times four possible results …
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Conservative victory could hinge on whether Labour voters hate UKIP more than they love Labour
Leave a commentJanuary 8, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Here’s an interesting concept to get your head around. What are the chances of diehard Labour supporters voting Conservative for …
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Day one and Labour quickly falls into Tories’ austerity trap
Leave a commentJanuary 6, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Amongst the astonishingly negative start to the General Election campaign yesterday, as the Tories said that Labour would crash the …
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Why deciding if the deficit really has been halved depends on your political view
Leave a commentJanuary 5, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
The Conservatives ‘fired the starting gun’ on the election campaign last Friday by unveiling a poster. Under the slogan “Let’s …
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Wales 2015 Part 2 – the constituencies to watch
2January 3, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
As I explained yesterday, it is very likely that the results from Wales will not decide the 2015 General Election. …
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Wales 2015 Part 1 – As you were
Leave a commentJanuary 2, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Whereas Scotland’s 2015 results could change the course of the 2015 General election result, the results from Wales will not. …
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2015 New Year Politics Prediction….impossible!
Leave a commentJanuary 1, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Happy New Year everyone. Welcome to what promises to be one of the most memorable years of politics of our …
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Northern Ireland 3 – Will DUP be the Kingmakers?
3December 31, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
It may be possible that a man who lost his seat at Westminster in 2010 could decide who will be …
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The prospect of Labour winning has Conservatives starting to build up funds for a quick second election
Leave a commentDecember 28, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Some interesting gossip emanating from Conservative HQ is that they have started to solicit donations to fund a second election …
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EVEL is not evil. But it will take time.
Leave a commentDecember 19, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
In the last few days before the Scottish Independence referendum, Alistair Darling, the leader of the “No” campaign, pleaded …
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