Risky Business 

October 12, 2010 2:58 PM - Written by Sara Mojtehedzadeh

Last summer, I taught a summer school course on politics at the London School of Economics for secondary school students preparing for university. As part of my curriculum, I invited a prospective MP to speak to them about his experiences in public life and politics. The lecture, however,...

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Bye Bye Byford 

October 12, 2010 12:11 PM - Written by Adam Boulton

The Director General of the BBC Mark Thompson announced this morning that his number two, Deputy Director General Mark Byford, is to walk the plank from his £450,000 p.a. job as part of the BBC's cost cutting measures.

Byford, a genial Yorkshireman well liked in media circles, has been at the corporation since 1979.

As DDG he seemed to have the human touch his superiors sometimes lacked, and he ran the show in 2004 when Greg Dyke was forced out by the David Kelly row....

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Crisis At Cameron's First PM's News Conference 

October 11, 2010 3:27 PM - Written by Adam Boulton

David Cameron has given no commitment to hold 'regular' or 'monthly' news conferences, unlike his two immediate predecessors. So four months after his election this was his first extended live session taking open questions from the Westminster press corps.

Some things were different....

david_cameron conservatives adam_boulton

Shadows Of Their Former Selves 

October 08, 2010 2:59 PM - Written by Glen Oglaza

Every single one of the Ed Miliband's new Cabinet served in Gordon Brown's government, now they have to get used to shadowing the minsterial positions that between them they once held.

The big surprise, of course, is Alan Johnson's elevation to shadow chancellor, rather than Ed Balls or Yvette Cooper, both of whom are vastly more qualified for the position.

Why has Ed Miliband done that? To avoid a seperate power base at the Treasury, perhaps,...

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Caption Competition 

October 08, 2010 11:09 AM - Written by Sara Mojtehedzadeh

Conference week was a hectic and sometimes tumultuous one for the Tories, but luckily Michael Gove found something far more entertaining to busy himself with.

He’d better build that spacecraft quickly though – with the defence cuts around the corner, it might be the best the MoD can hope for.

Michael_Gove conservatives defence Liam_Fox

Stunning Yvette, Stunned Hain. 

October 07, 2010 9:44 PM - Written by Jon Craig

A stunning result for Yvette Cooper in the Shadow Cabinet elections. Now she has a powerful - if not overwhelming - claim for the key job of Shadow Chancellor.

But Peter Hain will be stunned after crashing out, along with two other former Cabinet ministers, Ben Bradshaw and Shaun Woodward.

Yvette's 232 votes put her 40 ahead of her nearest rival, John Healey, who also has a good claim for a top job, possibly Shadow Chief Secretary or Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary....

Cameron v Miliband: A War Of Wordles 

October 06, 2010 3:51 PM - Written by Ruth Barnett

A good speech is about more than just the words chosen, but taking a look at a politician's most-used terms and phrases can go some way to telling us what messages they want us to hear.

A "word cloud" of David Cameron's conference speech shows which words he repeated most often when he spoke to Conservative delegates in Birmingham. According to this, the Prime Minister emphasised "people", "government" and "country".

Compare it to the speech given last week by the new Labour leader, Ed Miliband,...

david_cameron ed_miliband nick_clegg wordle ruth_barnett

New Conservatives? 

October 06, 2010 12:23 PM - Written by Glen Oglaza

It's been a trend for years - since David Cameron became leader, in fact - but now the transformation of the Conservatives from the old party of the shires to something approaching "progressive" appears to be nearing completion.

This is one of the most striking features of this year's Tory Conference in Birmingham.

Of course,...

glen_oglaza david_cameron conservatives

Conference Season Awards 

October 06, 2010 11:05 AM - Written by Adam Boulton

Conference Season 2010 ends today - so who were the winners and losers? Here are the Boulton & Co Awards.

Best Speech: The not-the-party leader's speech from David Miliband.

Best Headline Grabber: Vince "Capitalism kills" Cable.

Conference Moment: George Osborne announcing the child benefit cut on BBC and Sky News breakfast TV.

Most Smug: Lord Neil "I've got my party back" Kinnock.

Winner: Ed Miliband.

Losers: David Miliband, Mumsnet, Champagne.

Fastest Risers (New MPs): Chuka Umunna (Labour),...

adam_boulton conference

Baby Blue 

October 05, 2010 11:01 AM - Written by Adam Boulton

Samantha Cameron and her two-month old baby daughter Florence arrive in Birmingham this afternoon in time for the last night parties and to hear proud father David's speech tomorrow.

But when I suggested to Mr Cameron this morning that it was "cruel and unusual punishment" to bring a small child to conference, our wires got crossed.

He replied "not at all", he'd actually been sleeping worse without his daughter here.

It was the poor baby I was thinking of.

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