Election 2015: Nick Robinson, one man who’d welcome a second election
Election day arrives: it's all over bar the voting (and the talk of Downing Street plots)
Lib Dems on the road to ruin
Posted at 09.45, Fri 13 Feb 2015
The Lib Dems have slumped to six per cent, their worst showing in 25 years, putting them in fifth place behind the Greens on seven per cent, according to a new Ipsos-MORI poll for the Evening Standard.
According to a ‘nowcast’ (see definition below) by academics at the British Election Study, it could reduce the party to a single seat on 7 May.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
That’s probably unrealistic– it takes no account of public allegiance to individual MPs, for instance – but on these figures there is very little chance the Lib Dems will save more than half of their current 57 seats, if that.
Ian Jones at UKgeneralelection.com has a useful chart showing the swing the Tories, Labour, the SNP and even the Greens (in one case) would need in each Lib Dem seat. Jones says Clegg and Co's best chance of survival is to treat the general election as 57 separate by-elections.
Definition: A ‘nowcast’ - as opposed to a forecast - assumes an election right now. BES looks at polls based on standard voting intention rather than the “thinking of your own constituency” method preferred by Ashcroft and other pollsters.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
6 charming homes for the whimsical
Feature Featuring a 1924 factory-turned-loft in San Francisco and a home with custom murals in Yucca Valley
By The Week Staff Published
-
Big tech's big pivot
Opinion How Silicon Valley's corporate titans learned to love Trump
By Theunis Bates Published
-
Stacy Horn's 6 favorite works that explore the spectrum of evil
Feature The author recommends works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Anthony Doerr, and more
By The Week US Published
-
How should Westminster handle Elon Musk?
Today's Big Question Musk's about-face on Nigel Farage demonstrates that he is a 'precarious' ally, but his influence on the Trump White House makes fending off his attacks a delicate business
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
New Year's Honours: why the controversy?
Today's Big Question London Mayor Sadiq Khan and England men's football manager Gareth Southgate have both received a knighthood despite debatable records
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Elon Musk about to disrupt British politics?
Today's big question Mar-a-Lago talks between billionaire and Nigel Farage prompt calls for change on how political parties are funded
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
John Prescott: was he Labour's last link to the working class?
Today's Big Quesiton 'A total one-off': tributes have poured in for the former deputy PM and trade unionist
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is Lammy hoping to achieve in China?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary heads to Beijing as Labour seeks cooperation on global challenges and courts opportunities for trade and investment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published