Hopes of Conservative majority sees gilts surge as pound recovers May 6, 2010 GOVERNMENT bonds saw a small surge in the early hours of this morning on hopes of a Conservative majority that would take decisive action to reduce the deficit. IG Index’s David Jones said June gilts were trading 0.6 per cent higher, having traded as high as one percentage point up earlier, over fears of a [...]
Labour backs reform of the voting system May 6, 2010 LABOUR’S general election coordinator Lord Mandelson last night threw his weight behind electoral reform, in a bid to woo the Liberal Democrats into a Lib-Lab coalition. “The exit poll suggests people don’t want a pure Labour government but people don’t want a Tory government as well. There has to be electoral reform. The first past [...]
Labour’s Khan holds Tooting to chants of “Yes we Khan” May 6, 2010 LABOUR HOLD Swing -3.6% TRANSPORT minister Sadiq Khan last night managed to hold onto his key marginal seat of Tooting in South London dealing a significant blow to Conservative hopes of an overall majority. The junior minister had been earmarked as a potential scalp by the Tories. But in the bellwether seat Khan survived a [...]
Surge in postal votes fuels fraud fears and adds pressure to system May 6, 2010 A HUGE surge in postal votes has led to fears of electoral fraud, with as many as 50 allegations being investigated. Some areas have seen a spike in applications for postal votes of up to 60 per cent. There is a fear the votes could be manipulated by community leaders to influence key seats. Political [...]
Exit poll says Tory minority is most likely May 6, 2010 AN exit poll last night predicted a hung parliament with a Tory minority as the outcome of the election. Tories gained 305 seats in the poll, up 95 on the last general election, Labour were on 255, down 94, and the Lib Dems languishing with just 61, a loss of one. Other parties took 29, [...]
Former Ukip leader survives horror election plane crash May 6, 2010 FORMER UK Independence party leader Nigel Farage was stable last night after surviving an air crash. He was rushed to hospital yesterday after an airborne election stunt almost ended in tragedy. The pilot lost control of a light aircraft the Buckingham constituency hopeful was using to tow a banner reading “Vote for your country – [...]
Conservatives take Battersea seat in landmark victory May 6, 2010 CONSERVATIVE GAIN Swing 6.5% CONSERVATIVE candidate Jane Ellison last night took London’s most marginal seat, Battersea, with a swing of 6.5 per cent – putting the party close to the 7 per cent it would need to gain an overall majority across the country. Ellison garnered 47.3 per cent of the vote – up from [...]
Labour clings on to crucial marginal in south Birmingham May 6, 2010 LABOUR HOLD Swing unknown LABOUR claimed a victory in bellwether marginal Edgbaston despite a call for a recount by the Tory party. Incumbent Gisela Stuart appeared to have hung onto the seat by the skin of her teeth despite most analysts marking it as a racing certainty to fall to the Tories. The recount on the [...]
Harlow seat scooped up by Tories’ Robert Halfon May 6, 2010 CONSERVATIVE GAIN Swing 5.9% HARLOW, the bellwether Essex constituency formerly held by defence minister Bill Rammell, last night fell to the Tories with a 5.9 per cent swing. The Conservatives’ Robert Halfon – who lost out to Rammell by a whisker in 2005 – secured 44.9 per cent of the Harlow vote, well above his [...]
Kingswood falls to Tories in 9pc swing May 6, 2010 THE TORIES last night won the constituency of Kingswood with a swing of 9.4 per cent, a massive swing that would almost certainly give them a majority if replicated across the UK. Chris Skidmore, a journalist and historian that teaches part-time at Bristol University, overturned a majority of 7,873 or 14 per cent, which was [...]