Adam Boulton broke one of the main rules last night. Did anyone notice he asked Clegg his own question, with a smirk on his face, "I see you're on the front page of the Telegraph today" The BBC said he should in trouble for that as the moderator isn't allowed to ask any question of his own to one man only. Clegg hasn't complained, probably as it would just give the whole saga even more print lines. Boulton was even worse than Alistair Stewart and that's saying something. Dimbleby and the BBC should be far better.

 

Yes - one of the reasons I was complaining about Sky News' handling. Also some of the stupid questions, like the one about the Pope and the one about what the leaders have PERSONALLY done to save the environment.

Yes - one of the reasons I was complaining about Sky News' handling. Also some of the stupid questions, like the one about the Pope and the one about what the leaders have PERSONALLY done to save the environment.

Yes, the one about the environment was rather daft, particularly as it was restricted to the last six months. As for the one about the Pope, that was never going to lead to much disagreement. Unless the questioner wanted to highlight the fact that Nick Clegg doesn't believe in God. As it happened, Clegg has never made a secret of it and was perfectly open about it last night.

I'm still confident of a Tory overall majority of about 25. I think much of the Lib-Dems extra poll numbers won't actually translate to votes and many extra seats. People don't want Brown so will realise that Cameron's the only real choice. :) No landslide sadly but that'll then come in 2014/15. What's the betting that if Clegg's still Lib-Dem leader at the next election that PM Cameron will refuse to take part in any debates and I wouldn't blame him.

Edited April 23, 201015 yr by Victor Meldrew

Yes - one of the reasons I was complaining about Sky News' handling. Also some of the stupid questions, like the one about the Pope and the one about what the leaders have PERSONALLY done to save the environment.

 

According to Adam Boulton those two questions were specifically asked (especially the Pope question) as they were something the Party's Spin Doctors could not realistically expect to crop up in the debate, so to catch the three leaders off guard to a degree as they had to actually think for themselves.

I'm still confident of a Tory overall majority of about 25. I think much of the Lib-Dems extra poll numbers won't tranmslate to votes and seats. People don't want Brown so will realise that Cameron's the only real choice.

 

I think it will be about 40, if I had to stick my neck out I would say the majority for Cameron will be about 44

 

The media will do a hatchet job on Clegg and Brown and also opinion polls by nature understate tory support so I think the overall margin of % will be 11% which would produce a 40+ majority

 

41% Tory

30% Labour

24% Lib Dems

5% Others

 

 

I think it will be about 40, if I had to stick my neck out I would say the majority for Cameron will be about 44

 

The media will do a hatchet job on Clegg and Brown and also opinion polls by nature understate tory support so I think the overall margin of % will be 11% which would produce a 40+ majority

 

41% Tory

30% Labour

24% Lib Dems

5% Others

Your delusions get worse with each passing day. There are less than two weeks until the election. The 'hatchet job' the Tory media are doing on Clegg is getting ridiculous amounts of criticism and serves only to further paint him as an outsider.

 

Do you REALLY think opinion polls would be understating Tory support at THIS election, when it's apparently alright to vote Tory again? I'd say the Shy Labour factor could actually come into play for once...

 

Additionally, you plan a 9% swing to the Tories. Which far outstrips the post-war record swing. You also plan for Cameron to finish with just 1% less than Thatcher had in 1983. And you plan for the Lib Dems to only gain 2%.

 

You have Cameron barely winning last night's debate in the few polls calling it for him, and you're expecting some kind of game-changer in the last two weeks of the election that will bump Cameron up by about 10% when he's proven himself incapable of delivering one thus far and when the Economy debate is expected to be the one Brown will perform best in and where the Lib Dems are only going to do well (Cameron's economic policies are generally agreed to be the key factor holding most people back from changing over to him, for those who believe the Tories have changed at all socially)?! And you expect a Tory press which is already preaching to the majority of the converted to have enough of an effect to produce record breaking results for the Tories and almost completely reverse the Lib Dem surge? WHAT PLANET ARE YOU LIVING ON?

Your delusions get worse with each passing day. There are less than two weeks until the election. The 'hatchet job' the Tory media are doing on Clegg is getting ridiculous amounts of criticism and serves only to further paint him as an outsider.

 

Do you REALLY think opinion polls would be understating Tory support at THIS election, when it's apparently alright to vote Tory again? I'd say the Shy Labour factor could actually come into play for once...

 

Additionally, you plan a 9% swing to the Tories. Which far outstrips the post-war record swing. You also plan for Cameron to finish with just 1% less than Thatcher had in 1983. And you plan for the Lib Dems to only gain 2%.

 

You have Cameron barely winning last night's debate in the few polls calling it for him, and you're expecting some kind of game-changer in the last two weeks of the election that will bump Cameron up by about 10% when he's proven himself incapable of delivering one thus far and when the Economy debate is expected to be the one Brown will perform best in and where the Lib Dems are only going to do well (Cameron's economic policies are generally agreed to be the key factor holding most people back from changing over to him, for those who believe the Tories have changed at all socially)?! And you expect a Tory press which is already preaching to the majority of the converted to have enough of an effect to produce record breaking results for the Tories and almost completely reverse the Lib Dem surge? WHAT PLANET ARE YOU LIVING ON?

 

We will see Tyron we will see.

 

If I am wrong on May 7th feel free to rub my face in it and have a good pisstake at what I said, I believe I am right though that David Cameron will be PM on May 7th

By the time of the final debate next week many people will already have voted by post. So, a decisive win for any of the candidates will not necessarily have as large an effect as you might think. Those postal votes have to be borne in mind if there is a big shift of opinion in the next two weeks.

I think it will be about 40, if I had to stick my neck out I would say the majority for Cameron will be about 44

 

The media will do a hatchet job on Clegg and Brown and also opinion polls by nature understate tory support so I think the overall margin of % will be 11% which would produce a 40+ majority

 

41% Tory

30% Labour

24% Lib Dems

5% Others

So either the opinion polls are so badly wrong that the companies risk the press deciding never to pay for them again with the risk that their other customers will follow suit, or there will be a massive shift in the next 13 days. Which will it be? And, if the latter, what will be the cause?

Your delusions get worse with each passing day. There are less than two weeks until the election. The 'hatchet job' the Tory media are doing on Clegg is getting ridiculous amounts of criticism and serves only to further paint him as an outsider.

 

Do you REALLY think opinion polls would be understating Tory support at THIS election, when it's apparently alright to vote Tory again? I'd say the Shy Labour factor could actually come into play for once...

 

Additionally, you plan a 9% swing to the Tories. Which far outstrips the post-war record swing. You also plan for Cameron to finish with just 1% less than Thatcher had in 1983. And you plan for the Lib Dems to only gain 2%.

 

You have Cameron barely winning last night's debate in the few polls calling it for him, and you're expecting some kind of game-changer in the last two weeks of the election that will bump Cameron up by about 10% when he's proven himself incapable of delivering one thus far and when the Economy debate is expected to be the one Brown will perform best in and where the Lib Dems are only going to do well (Cameron's economic policies are generally agreed to be the key factor holding most people back from changing over to him, for those who believe the Tories have changed at all socially)?! And you expect a Tory press which is already preaching to the majority of the converted to have enough of an effect to produce record breaking results for the Tories and almost completely reverse the Lib Dem surge? WHAT PLANET ARE YOU LIVING ON?

 

i agree, dunno why craig is guessing it so wrong. i dont know anyone whos voting for the tories, people see cameron as smarmy and not a pm.

 

we are heading for a hung parliament, id welcome a lib/dem / labour pact.

 

We are already 5 points ahead in the opinion polls and I still believe there will be a late surge towards the tories, I think that lots of people are saying they will vote for Clegg because he is a nice guy but when reality bites they will vote conservative on the day

 

I think the polls are heavily underestimating tory support

Well I shan't be considering Clegg after this article ... from MIT (The Murdoch Institute of Truth)

 

http://www.dailyshame.co.uk/2010/04/satire...gg-eats-babies/

 

Senior researchers at the Murdoch Institute of Truth (MIT) have discovered that Nick Clegg eats babies in a satanic ritual as old as time itself. The Liberal Democrat leader, whose bounce in the polls is “nothing”, according to MIT, also runs grannies over in his car, and stuffs money up his own arse.

 

The research paper, entitled “Why Nick Clegg will kill Great Britain and Eat Your Children” has been endorsed by a number of leading thinkers, including Noel Edmonds and Gary Barlow.

 

Conservative leader David Cameron said that the research was “absolutely convincing”, and said that it was “further proof that Nick Clegg should just p*** off back to nothingness where he was before last week. This man is a rich, baby-eating satanist who enjoys stuffing your hard-earned ten pounds notes up his own bum before he gets in a car that you, the hard-working tax-payer, have payed for, and runs your grandmother over. For fun. That’s what he does.”

 

“If you’re seriously thinking about voting Liberal Democrat,” mused the opportunistic leader, “then you have to remember this: Nick Clegg wants to turn this great country – your great country – into a European state in the grip of the Lord Beelzebub, and he will eat your babies.”

 

Gordon Brown, however, took a different tack, hoping to gain votes from siding with the Liberal Democratc, saying “I agree with Nick.” He continued: “Baby-eating is fine. I had five for breakfast today, and I’d even invited some of the great mums from Mumsnet along to watch.”

 

“In fact, I pledge now to the nation that I will make contact with Satan himself to set up a Financial Arse Institution. This Institution will introduce people to the pleasures of stuffing money up their posteriors. I will also encourage granny-killing not only as a pleasurable pastime, but as a part of the national curriculum.”

 

Head of the Murdoch Institute for Truth, Kevin McQhuntte, said that voters “wanted to know the truth” about Nick Clegg, adding that “people were hoodwinked last week – but the devil knows how to hoodwink people, and he taught his disciple well. Yes, Nick Clegg is an emissary of the Dark Lord, and yes, he will eat your children. Our research shows that he prefers slightly fatter children who have been raised on Tesco ready meals, as they come pre-salted. However, Vince Cable prefers to eat skinny children and he loves to spit out the bones, while belching ‘nice meal Nick’ at loud volume.”

 

“You can vote for these people if you want to, but everyone knows that only David Cameron leads a wholesome life.”

 

 

 

 

 

Norma

Edited April 24, 201015 yr by Norma_Snockers

We are already 5 points ahead in the opinion polls and I still believe there will be a late surge towards the tories, I think that lots of people are saying they will vote for Clegg because he is a nice guy but when reality bites they will vote conservative on the day

 

I think the polls are heavily underestimating tory support

 

These are the polls that in 2005 had Conservatives and Labout neck and neck then Blair pulled out a majority of almost 70? Opnion polls favour the Tories far more than Election Day does and with all three parties on around 30%, Cameron will do well to get more seats than Brown at all.

 

And also your information is wrong, an opinion poll of 11% (what you stated) is only just enough to get any majority at all considering the Lib Dem boost, let alone one of 40. You were still predicting a majority closer to 100 when the campaign got underway so by that logic you'll be predicting a hung parliament by May 6th ;)

We are already 5 points ahead in the opinion polls and I still believe there will be a late surge towards the tories, I think that lots of people are saying they will vote for Clegg because he is a nice guy but when reality bites they will vote conservative on the day

 

I think the polls are heavily underestimating tory support

 

thats wishful thinking...

I think it will be about 40, if I had to stick my neck out I would say the majority for Cameron will be about 44

 

The media will do a hatchet job on Clegg and Brown and also opinion polls by nature understate tory support so I think the overall margin of % will be 11% which would produce a 40+ majority

 

41% Tory

30% Labour

24% Lib Dems

5% Others

 

Even IF these unlikely results happened, the Conservatives would have an overall majority of just 6 according to the BBC - nowhere near 40+. And 5% for "others" would be historically low - it'll be 7-8% as a bare minimum. So, basically, if you want a Tory overall majority, you're going to have to hope for the either the Labour or the Lib Dem vote to utterly collapse within two weeks (as in, to 18% or 19%). And unless Brown or Clegg is filmed p***ing on Diana's grave, it ain't happening.

 

This is what I'm saying for the final vote:

 

34% Conservatives

30% Labour

29% Lib Dems

7% Others

 

Which in seats, would be:

 

286 Labour (40 short of overall majority)

248 Conservatives

87 Lib Dems

29 Others

 

Which I'm pretty sure would lead to a Labour-Lib Dem coalition... it would have to be a full-on coalition I think rather than Lib Dems just propping up a Labour minority government. A government which got just 30% of votes and was 40 seats of a majority just wouldn't be credible.

 

Nick Clegg will be the next Home Secretary, mark my words.

Nick Clegg will be the next Home Secretary, mark my words.

 

Why Home Secretary but not other ministry?

Is this the end of the LibDem soufflé surge? Tomorrow's News of the World has an Ipsos-Mori poll – conducted the day after the second debate – putting things back to where they were pre-debates: Tories with a six point lead over Labour and the LibDems lagging seven points behind Labour, i.e. 36-30-23. This is broadly where Mori had them in March.

 

The polls are in a state of flux, to be sure. But Ipsos did a full, 1,200 weighted sample, telephone poll. Even on this basis, Cameron would be 42 seats short of a majority. But this is the best news he's had since the first TV debate – and a sign that he might yet pull through with a majority.

 

Yet other polls in tomorrow's Sundays suggest that there is still some rise in the LibDem soufflé. ComRes for Sindy has Con 34 Lab 28 LD 29. As John Rentoul puts it: "three-horse race, Labour third"

Is this the end of the LibDem soufflé surge? Tomorrow's News of the World has an Ipsos-Mori poll – conducted the day after the second debate – putting things back to where they were pre-debates: Tories with a six point lead over Labour and the LibDems lagging seven points behind Labour, i.e. 36-30-23. This is broadly where Mori had them in March.

 

The polls are in a state of flux, to be sure. But Ipsos did a full, 1,200 weighted sample, telephone poll. Even on this basis, Cameron would be 42 seats short of a majority. But this is the best news he's had since the first TV debate – and a sign that he might yet pull through with a majority.

 

Yet other polls in tomorrow's Sundays suggest that there is still some rise in the LibDem soufflé. ComRes for Sindy has Con 34 Lab 28 LD 29. As John Rentoul puts it: "three-horse race, Labour third"

 

i think ive spotted the flaw in you theory! :lol:

Is this the end of the LibDem soufflé surge? Tomorrow's News of the World has an Ipsos-Mori poll – conducted the day after the second debate – putting things back to where they were pre-debates: Tories with a six point lead over Labour and the LibDems lagging seven points behind Labour, i.e. 36-30-23. This is broadly where Mori had them in March.

 

The polls are in a state of flux, to be sure. But Ipsos did a full, 1,200 weighted sample, telephone poll. Even on this basis, Cameron would be 42 seats short of a majority. But this is the best news he's had since the first TV debate – and a sign that he might yet pull through with a majority.

 

Yet other polls in tomorrow's Sundays suggest that there is still some rise in the LibDem soufflé. ComRes for Sindy has Con 34 Lab 28 LD 29. As John Rentoul puts it: "three-horse race, Labour third"

If anyone can be compared to a souffle in this election, it's Cameron. Looks good but no substance at all. The Mori poll is completely out of line with the other two announced so far and also out of line with the general trend. So, unless other polls say otherwise, I'll treat it as a rogue for now.

Why Home Secretary but not other ministry?

 

If it's a coalition, then, assuming Clegg isn't PM (which is very unlikely), they'll demand at least one of the three biggest offices. If the Lib Dems get Chancellor then that will definitely be Vince Cable, and I highly doubt the LDs would be given the Foreign Office. Which leaves the Home Office. Also, Clegg was the home affairs spokesman for the Lib Dems before he became leader.