So are the CON MPs on the committee going to back Johnson?
What a very strange day and I personally cannot work out what is going to happen. Everything depends on the Conservative MPs on the Privileges Committee on which the party has a majority. Let us remind ourselves that if Johnson is suspended for 10 days or more than that would open up the possibility of a recall petition in his constituency which could lead to him sitting to become an MP. Mike Smithson
A reminder of the polling on today’s big political issue
CON MPs will do what’s best for their survival chances?
Has the ex-PM now become an electoral liability? As can be seen just about all the front page trail the big parliamentary event this afternoon when the privileges committee report on Johnson is discussed by the House. What will determine the outcome and Johnson’s political career is the assessment of his parliamentary colleagues as to whether keeping him or getting rid of him is the best option to save their seats at the next election. What is working against Johnson…
Unhappy Valley
Happy Valley, Line of Duty, The Bay, The Gold, Broadchurch, Inspector Morse, Endeavour, Unforgotten, Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes, Cracker, Vera, Prime Suspect, Bodyguard, Luther, Criminal, Heartbeat, Inspector George Gently, Between the Lines, Foyle’s War. The view we lap up, given the preponderance of TV police dramas, is of basically good hearted, if understandably grumpy, policemen (and the occasional ballsy policewoman) doing their best for us. If they occasionally stretch or break a rule or two, well it’s all…
It’s evens that there’ll be by-election in Johnson’s seat
The story at Westminster today and no doubt tomorrow will be Boris Johnson’s appearance before the Commomns Privileges committee which is looking at whether he broke the lockdown rules. This morning his defence has been published and it is very reliant on him saying that nobody advised him that some of his actions were wrong and were in breach of the law. Is this going to wash with MPs? Surely it will be argued that someone who has reached the…
How long before the LAB lead is reduced to single digits?
March has seen a better set of General Election polling numbers for the Tories then they’ve had in months. The latest from Deltapoll has it down to just 10% What is striking looking at the Wikipedia table above is that the Conservatives are doing markedly better with pollsters that have had prior experience of having the general election polls tested against real results. The pollsters that are showing the biggest Labour margins are new ones that have sprung up since…
We can all predict Nadine’s Tweets at 10pm on May 4th
Today has been the annual local election briefing for the media by the Tory elections specialist Lord Hayward and he made what should prove to be a fairly accurate prediction about Culture Secretary Dorries. True to form in that period after the polls have closed on May 4th and we await the results Hayward suggested she’ll be going on TV arguing that the Tories would have done far better if Johnson had still been in post. In fact in his…