December 24, 2014
Poll round-up: 2014’s winners and losers
With all the opinion polls of 2014 now in, how have the four main UK parties ended the year? Labour will take heart from the slight rally it experienced in…
December 23, 2014
How the final polls of 2014 compare with the final polls of 2013
The pollsters have wrapped things up for the year, meaning we’re in for a couple of weeks free from the temptation to number-crunch minute changes in percentages and extrapolate results from…
December 22, 2014
South-east England: the Tories’ blue wedge
Labour has been driven out of various parts of the country over the past decade, but none more comprehensively than in south-east England. The 2010 election left not a single Labour MP…
December 21, 2014
Hung parliaments: a note about numbers
I’ve mentioned before how Sinn Fein’s decision to abstain from participation in the House of Commons reduces the number of MPs needed for an absolute majority in parliament. Sinn Fein…
December 20, 2014
Once Christmas is over, MPs will sit for just 54 more days before the election
Parliament has shut up shop for Christmas. The House of Commons won’t meet again until 5 January 2015, with the House of Lords returning the following day. MPs will then…
December 19, 2014
Latest by-election results: Christmas cheer for Labour and the Tories
Just two council by-elections were held on Thursday. Labour held a seat comfortably on Nottinghamshire council: Ollerton is in the marginal Tory constituency of Sherwood, which is one of Labour’s…
December 18, 2014
A coalition government in 2015: what the smaller parties are saying – update
A few weeks ago I ran through what each of the smaller parties have said about whether or not they would be prepared to join a coalition in the next parliament,…
December 17, 2014
Poll update: how to make sense of not very much
The opinion poll averages for each of the main parties so far this month are Labour 33%; Conservative 31.7%; Ukip 15.8%; Liberal Democrats 7.6%. This is barely a change on…
December 16, 2014
The general election isn’t the only poll taking place on 7 May
Along with contests to choose the 650 MPs for the next UK parliament, on 7 May 2015 local elections are also being held across most of England. A handful of…
December 15, 2014
Labour v SNP: a guide to the battleground
Jim Murphy, Labour’s new leader in Scotland, has wasted no time in signalling the extent of his ambition. He told the BBC on Sunday he is “determined” his party will…
UK elections 2015 