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No Chance for Euro Referendum
So now we know - or do we? The referendum on joining the Euro, according to some newspapers' interpretations of the Prime Minister's answer to a question in the Commons, will be held in the first two years of the next Parliament. That wasn't what he said.
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New Heads' Poll Supports Blunkett's Approach To Education Reform
Education and Employment Secretary David Blunkett said today that it was important for Government to strike a balance between local autonomy and Government intervention - particularly in school reform.
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Fly Away Peter
Peter Mandelson's resignation last week was an embarrassment to the government, and naturally led to much speculation that the government is acquiring a sleazy image that will damage it at the election. Two polls conducted since the resignation have explored this. Unfortunately the reporting of the second of these, an NOP poll for the Channel 4 programme Powerhouse, has misinterpreted its findings and perhaps as a consequence its implications.
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The Polls In 2000
An editorial in the Daily Telegraph last month (5 December) suggested that MORI's polls in The Times systematically under-represent Conservative strength, and further that this is because they are conducted face-to-face rather than by telephone. The article cited several arguments in support of its case which were based on factual errors. We wrote to the paper correcting these errors, but it failed to publish our letter. It is not true as they alleged that face-to-face polls tend to find lower Conservative support than telephone polls. Nor is it true that MORI's polls find systematically lower Conservative support than those of the other polling companies. But since some of these misconceptions seem to be widespread, and the Telegraph was only echoing the wishful thinking which seems to be still entrenched in some corners of Conservative Central Office, it is perhaps time for a systematic review of the evidence, taking the whole of the year 2000 as our basis.
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Monarchy/Royal Family Trends - Role of the Monarchy in Britain's Future
Q Do you think the monarchy does or does not have an important role to play in the future of Britain?
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Tory Own Goals
This week's MORI political poll for The Times sees the government's voting intention lead over the Conservatives widening again. The Opposition have failed to make their attacks on the government stick, and both this and other recent polls offer clues why this might be the case.
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Rural Voters
How important is the rural vote? There is in our view entirely too much attention paid to the so-called "rural vote". Questions are frequently raised as to whether Labour's failures to meet the needs and concerns of rural areas might cost it dear at the next election.