Last night the latest YouGov poll cut the Conservative lead from nine points to just five – in the first survey the pollsters have done since the Manchester terrorist attack on Monday night. YouGov put the Conservatives on 43, Labour on 38, with the Lib Dems and UKIP trailing on 10 and 4 respectively. This […]
Posts under ‘UKIP’
UKIP launch manifesto calling for zero net migration and burkha bans
May 26th, 2017 by James Elliott.UKIP launched their general election manifesto yesterday, unveiling a document that ranged from the unusual to the unpleasant. Their main pitch is unsurprisingly around Brexit, with the party returning to its role of yesteryear, acting as outriders to the Conservative party, rather than challengers to their dominance on the political right. With May’s calculated pitch to […]
Douglas Carswell and the fall of UKIP
Mar 28th, 2017 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.As surprises in politics go, this one’s right up there with night following day. In case you’ve hid in a cave or were too dazzled by the March for Europe’s liberal virtue, Douglas Carswell has resigned from the United Kingdom Independence Party. Something of a square peg in a round hole, Carswell’s politics are complete crap. […]
The UKIP campaign in Stoke Central
Mar 6th, 2017 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Time for a little talk about UKIP. Oh not, not another one. Yah, I’m afraid so. I want to talk about their campaign in Stoke-on-Trent, the character of its vote and their relationship to the Tories and, more significantly, Tory voters. What Stoke definitively showed was UKIP is something less than a political party. As a […]
What happened to the Labour vote in the recent by-elections?
Feb 28th, 2017 by David Pavett.I am no psephologist but in compiling the graphs below I noticed a number of points which I think are important in any discussion of Labour’s poor performance in both Stoke Central and Copeland. First the graphs which show Labour’s share of the vote and share of the total electorate since the creation of the […]
Theresa May in Stoke
Feb 23rd, 2017 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.The Prime Minister managed a double whammy of the unexpected yesterday. First, she visited Stoke, which is something PMs rarely ever do. And second, her presence and parade in front of the local media means she’s effectively campaigned for a Conservative candidate who doesn’t stand a realistic chance of winning, which is usually a no-no when it […]
A Saturday in Stoke-on-Trent Central
Feb 23rd, 2017 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Has this week been decisive for the by-election campaigns in Stoke-on-Trent Central? Paul Nuttall must be nursing a cracking hangover. Having been so thoroughly exposed hasn’t done his campaign any good at all, to the point where he cannot really go door knocking again – not that he did much except hang around campaign HQ and have […]
At the Stoke Central Hustings
Feb 17th, 2017 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Coming away from The Sentinel-sponsored by-election hustings at Staffordshire University, I spotted a blood moon hanging low over Stoke. For whom did this augur an ill omen? For Gareth Snell and the Labour Party, or Paul Nuttall and the United Kingdom Independence Party? If what happens at hustings matters, I’d have to say it doesn’t […]
On the doors in Stoke Central
Feb 14th, 2017 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Hoping for another sunny, balmy Saturday was too much to ask for. As Labour’s canvassing teams went door-to-door in the Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election last week, it was under clear skies and dry weather. Those same teams today went out in biting cold and a snow so desultory it couldn’t be arsed to leave even a light sprinkling. […]
On the Stoke Central By-Election Candidates
Feb 3rd, 2017 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.And so the finalised list of Stoke Central by-election candidates is out, and ten folks fancy their chances. And it’s a circus, albeit one not likely to produce much merriment. Who then are the lions and acrobats? Which of them is the clown? Naturally, Gareth Snell has roared into action. Labour were all over the constituency […]