Labour party

Wednesday

Sebastian Payne

The ‘Milibrand’ interview does nothing but trash Labour’s standing

From our UK edition

Ed Miliband’s interview with Russell Brand has been released and it’s rather depressing. Not that Miliband messed up — in fact, he is very on message and sticks to Labour's party lines. It’s simply not very enlightening. Brand comes across as the mad man cornering the boring person in a pub because he thinks he might agree with him. It’s business as usual from Brand, who ranted about the ‘unelected powerful elites that really control things behind the scenes’, the ‘geopolitical influences’ and ‘transnational corporations’.

Steerpike

Yvette Cooper: Ed Balls Day has become too commercial

From our UK edition

After Tristram Hunt subjected himself to an array of questions from Mumsnet users on Monday, today was Yvette Cooper's turn in the hot seat. Although the Labour MP had managed to organise the Q&A so as not to clash with her husband's Ed Balls Day, she could not escape the topic. One user - by the name of 'rubbishdeskhoover' - was unimpressed by yesterday's celebrations which saw the shadow chancellor tweet his name for the fourth year, while Pizza Hut even joined the fun by creating a special pizza to mark the occasion: Good morning, @EdBallsMP. Your pizza is ready. Many happy returns... #EdBallsDay pic.twitter.

Isabel Hardman

Labour’s ‘secret plan’ attack exploits Tory silence on welfare cuts

From our UK edition

A common technique in gothic horror novels is to avoid describing whatever monster the author is trying to scare readers with. The imagination is even more powerful than the pen, and silence on the details of the beast means those reading will concoct their own personal nightmare as they read on. This was always the risk with the Tory refusal to set out the detail of the £12 billion of welfare cuts they plan to make in the next Parliament. Ed Miliband is trying to exploit that lack of detail today by launching a ‘dossier’ that sets out the ‘secret plan’ the Tories have on welfare cuts. In his speech this morning, the Labour leader said: ‘Today we show what another five years of Tory government would mean. A Tory secret plan.

Sebastian Payne

Campaign kick-off: eight days to go

From our UK edition

There will be more promises from the party leaders today — plus a comedic twist. David Cameron will pledge a five year ‘tax lock’ that will be enshrined in law, while Ed Miliband will attack the proposed £12 billion welfare cuts and promise to raise working-age tax credits in line with inflation. And then we have Russell Brand. To help guide you through the melée of stories and spin, here is a summary of today’s main election stories. 1. The taxman banished David Cameron doesn’t appear to feel confident that the electorate believes his promises.

Tuesday

Hugo Rifkind

Like it or not, Russell Brand is the future of media (Ed Miliband seems to like it)

From our UK edition

I write at a difficult time. The balls are in the air, but we know not where they will land. Perhaps, by the time you get to read this, more will be clear. Right now, however, we know only that Ed Miliband has been interviewed by Russell Brand. We do not yet know what he said. Or what Brand said. Probably he said more. ‘That was interesting enough, but Russell Brand was a bit restrained’ is something that nobody has said, after any conversation, ever. Most likely he’ll have quite liked Ed Miliband. They’ll have friends in common. Probably even girlfriends, what with them both having such voracious sexual appetites.

Philip Cowley

Numbers, not arguments about legitimacy, will decide who enters No.10 after May 7

From our UK edition

Lyndon Johnson’s first lesson of politics was to be able to count. It’s something that many of those commenting on the various post-election scenarios could do with remembering. Let’s start with those who think that there is some overriding importance in being the largest single party and that this gives you the right to form a government, even if you lack a majority. It is never clear what people expect the other parties to do in such a scenario. Assume, for example, that after the election the Conservatives are the largest party but without a majority, and there is an anti-Conservative block that is larger. Do we really expect the anti-Conservative parties just to shrug their shoulders, say ‘oh well’, and put the Conservatives into power?

Sebastian Payne

Election podcast special: nine days to go

From our UK edition

In today's election podcast special, Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth, Isabel Hardman and I discuss David Cameron's ramped up rhetoric on the SNP threat to the Union, the Tories' promise to create 50,000 new apprenticeships from Libor fines and Labour's latest attempts to talk about controlling immigration. We also briefly look at the Liberal Democrats 'red lines' for future coalition negotiations and Ukip's attempts to woo voters in the north.

Steerpike

Why would Ed Miliband even want to woo Russell Brand?

From our UK edition

The Sun reports this morning that Ed Miliband recently made a late-night visit to Russell Brand's £2 million home. Details on what was discussed remain unknown, although Labour has now confirmed that rather than Miliband's own François Hollande moment, or a pre-emptive mansion tax inspection, it was in fact an interview. A friend of mine lives opposite Russell Brand and snapped this picture of Ed Milliband leaving his house...urm pic.twitter.com/kHGVWFbpVZ — Elisa Misu Solaris (@ElisaMisu) April 27, 2015 However, if Miliband is to appear in an episode of Brand's online show The Trews, it's unclear what the Labour leader hopes to gain from it. Is this really an endorsement any serious potential Prime Minister would want?

Louis Reynolds

Rural people have been let down by both Labour and the Conservatives

From our UK edition

In 1997, Labour could assert with a straight face that it was ‘the party of the countryside’, because it genuinely competed with the Tories for rural votes. Today, an electoral map of England is a sea of blue rural constituencies dotted with clusters of urban red. Looking forward to May, the latest polls have the two main parties neck and neck, with the Tories on 34 per cent and Labour one point behind. This reflects an unhealthy urban-rural political divide that has rarely been more extreme. Labour is as unlikely to make in-roads into rural Conservative heartlands as the Tories are to win large numbers of seats in northern urban seats, making a clear victory for either party almost impossible.

Monday

Sebastian Payne

Tories six points ahead in new Ashcroft poll and three points ahead according to ICM

From our UK edition

Two new polls out today have the Tories ahead. Lord Ashcroft's latest national poll says the Conservatives currently have a six point lead at per cent — up two points from last week — while Labour remains on 30 per cent. Ashcroft has Ukip down slightly to 11 per cent and the Liberal Democrats are on nine per cent. The Guardian/ICM also put the Tories ahead in their new poll today, putting the Conservatives on 35 per cent and Labour on 32 per cent. It's worth noting that both the Ashcroft and ICM polls were conducted by telephone. There are two other polls out today, conducted online, which show the opposite result.  The latest survey from YouGov has Labour two points ahead on 34 per cent, while a new Populus/FT poll has Labour three points ahead on 36 per cent.

Sebastian Payne

Election podcast special: 10 days to go

From our UK edition

The general election campaign has entered the final stretch and each day between now and polling day, we'll be producing a short lunchtime podcast looking at the day's campaign developments. Today, Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth, Isabel Hardman and I discuss Labour's new housing pledges, the 5,000 small businesses backing the Tories, the hysterical talk of the SNP threat — as well as the unfathomable state of the opinion polls.

Steerpike

Tristram Hunt: I am hugely in favour of yummy mummies

From our UK edition

After Gordon Brown was famously forced by Mumsnet members to reveal his favourite biscuit, Mr S was intrigued to see that Tristram Hunt had agreed to a Mumsnet chat of his own this lunchtime. Brown was so thrown by the chat back in 2009 that he had to take a 24-hour break after he was asked 12 times to name his favourite biscuit. Hunt seems to have held his nerve better. The chat began above board, with parents asking Hunt what he would do to ensure teachers stay in the profession. He promised to 'cut down on the bureaucracy getting in the way of teaching' in order to guarantee that teachers 'regain their love of the job'.

James Forsyth

Note from Mandelson’s firm warns that SNP will drag Labour to the left

From our UK edition

Peter Mandelson and Ed Miliband appeared to have been undergoing a certain rapprochement during this campaign. Mandelson declared recently that Miliband has 'way exceeded my expectations'. But a briefing note from Global Counsel, of which Mandelson is chairman, is bound to be seized on by the Tories. The note is entitled ‘Why the SNP will win whatever happens on May 7th’ and goes on to discuss what might happen if the Nationalists end up holding the balance of power in a hung parliament. It warns that ‘English dissatisfaction is likely to grow over time with the consequences of Labour government being sustained in power by the SNP’. It also predicts that the SNP will 'pull the Labour party to the left, away from the centre ground of English politics.

Sebastian Payne

Campaign kick-off: 10 days to go

From our UK edition

With just under two weeks to go until polling day, the promises, threats and reassurances will kick up a notch as we enter the final stretch of the campaign. The Tories have another 5,000 businesses to back up their case for reelection, while Labour is turning to its favourite weapon of market intervention towards housing. To help guide you through the melée of stories and spin, here is a summary of today’s main election stories. 1. Building for Britain The Tories have tried to paint themselves as the party of home ownership throughout this campaign. But Labour is attempting to seize that mantle with several new policies on housing today. First up, a pledge to scrap stamp duty for first time buyers on properties up to £300k.

Sunday

James Forsyth

This election will be decided by the undecideds

From our UK edition

The polls could hardly be closer than they are at the moment and the parliamentary arithmetic looks like it is going to be remarkably tight, there’ll be only a few seats in it as to whether it’ll be Cameron or Miliband as Prime Minister. Yet, campaign aides on both sides have been struck by one thing: the large number of undecideds. One recent poll suggested that as many as one in five of those who intend to vote are still undecided. How this group breaks will determine the result. As one close Miliband ally put it to me, ‘The defining moment of this campaign hasn’t happened yet’. The Tory hope is that an unrelenting focus on the economy and the threat it that any Labour SNP arrangement would pose, will nudge these undecideds into their column.

James Forsyth

Miliband avoids the Scottish question

From our UK edition

On the Andrew Marr show this morning, Ed Miliband fended off questions about any post-election deal with the Scottish National Party. He had two lines of defence. First, he said he wasn’t going to pre-empt the election result and that he was fighting to win the election everywhere including Scotland. Second, he was adamant that ‘I’m not doing deals with the Scottish National Party’. But there was no explanation of how he would pilot legislation through the Commons without their support. listen to ‘Ed Miliband on the Andrew Marr Show’ on audioBoom When it came to the economy, Miliband refused to admit that the last Labour government spent too much, saying the financial crisis had caused the deficit not the other way round.

Friday

Sebastian Payne

Who is rallying behind Ed Miliband: the undecided voters or Labour supporters?

From our UK edition

As polling day nears, everyone is trying to work out which way undecided voters will break. Contrary to what many predicted, Labour and Ed Miliband have had a pretty decent short campaign, although this hasn't yet led to a polling lead. But the key question is whether Miliband is winning support from the undecided voters. A recent poll from ComRes showed that the Labour leader isn’t viewed particularly well among this group. 28 per cent said they would want to see David Cameron run the country, compared to 16 per cent for Ed Miliband. This isn’t much of a change since before the campaign began. In March, 12 per cent of undecided voters said they would prefer to see Miliband in charge.

Steerpike

Has the BBC painted its website red?

From our UK edition

Dare Mr S suggest the BBC election website is a little skewed towards the red corner? Miliband's foreign policy foray leads the hub, yet fails to give much coverage of the fact that his 'attack' has been criticised from all sides. Of all the top stories, only one could be construed as vaguely supportive of the Tories, while a call from a minor Welsh nationalist to organise an 'anti-Tory' coalition is considered more important by the editors than the launch of the first-ever English manifesto by David Cameron and William Hague. And one does wonder why 'the abuse case' peer's party allegiances are not deemed headline worthy? For the record, he's Labour...

John O'Neill

Have the Tories given up on taking seats from Labour?

From our UK edition

David Cameron and George Osborne's campaigning is focused on seats the Tory party wants to hold onto, while Ed Miliband is taking the fight to seats Labour wants to win from them. That's the view in Labour HQ, and they've got figures to back it up: Since 30 March, when the ‘short campaign’ began, Cameron and Osborne have made 61 campaign visits between them, Labour says. More than half have been to Tory-held seats, many of them on the ‘40/40’ list of seats that the Tories need to keep and win in order to end up with a majority. Here's where they've been: Ed Miliband and Ed Balls, Labour says, are campaigning to take seats from the Tories, with three-quarters of their 67 campaign visits to Tory held seats. [datawrapper chart="http://static.spectator.co.

Isabel Hardman

Do Labour voters hate the SNP enough to save the Lib Dems?

From our UK edition

For someone who might be about to lose her seat, Jo Swinson seems very perky as she walks the streets of Bishopbriggs in her constituency. The Lib Dem, who is standing for re-election in East Dunbartonshire in Scotland, is busy trying to persuade people who have received their postal votes this week to back her. The weather is sunny and warm and the Business and Equalities Minister cheerful, but the outlook isn’t quite so good when you take a glance at the numbers. A poll by Lord Ashcroft last week put the SNP on 40 per cent, with Swinson trailing behind on 29 per cent. That’s a 19.5 per cent swing to the SNP in the seat which Swinson first won in 2005 with a 4,061 majority, which then reduced to 2,184 in 2010.