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Referendum or Opinion Poll?
Brian Souter's privately funded "referendum" in Scotland on the repeal of Section 28/2A of the Local Government Act reached its conclusion this week in an inevitable flurry of recrimination about its significance, if any. The Scottish Executive, in dismissing it, described it as a "flawed opinion poll". This is entirely a misuse of the term.
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Babes and Sucklings
Thirty years ago this week, Parliament was dissolved, and the last Labour government to have a working majority went to the country to appeal for a renewal of its mandate to govern. There is no consensus of opinion on why Harold Wilson lost that election and Edward Heath won, but one widely-held belief is that the final critical swing in the last few days may have been caused by England's defeat by West Germany in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. A government was ejected from office because England lost a football match.
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Any Time, Any Place Mobile Phone-Based Opinion Poll Service Launches
Leading pollsters MORI to be first users
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Soft Labour Vote? Not So, At Least Not Yet
The first poll taken entirely after the call of the election shows a widening of the lead for Labour, and on every measure, Labour gaining even further ground on the Conservatives.
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Learning About E-Learning
"bookacourse.com survey" gives fascinating insight into the impact of the Internet on training in the UK
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Local/London Mayor/Romsey Elections Explained
So, no real surprises in Thursday's local elections, though most of the government's worst fears were fulfilled. Ken is Mayor, the Tories are back in business in local government. More surprising, the Liberal Democrats gained their first parliamentary seat under Charles Kennedy's leadership in the Romsey by-election.
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Caught In The Net
Despite popular concerns about the onward rush of technology, says Bob Worcester, 13 million have already gone on line at home
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Local Elections Turnout
Next Thursday will see local government elections being held in most of England, both the high profile contest for London Mayor and the much less heralded contest for more than 3,300 seats on around 150 district and borough councils. Turnout will almost certainly be dire, as it nearly always is these days; last year it was 36% in the shire districts, 31% in the unitary authorities and just 26% in the metropolitan boroughs.
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School Children Fear Bullying And Violence
More than a third of school pupils (36 per cent) have been bullied in the past twelve months, a quarter (26 per cent) have been threatened with violence in school and 13 per cent have been physically attacked, according to a major survey by the 150,000-strong Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).