Liberal Vision

VIDEO: Keith Vaz sucking up to AJ

Yes, I’m going to say it – well played Diane Abbott.

[Note: her moment of inspiration arrives 13 seconds into the clip]

Johnson would cut Cameron’s lead by 6%

A ComRes poll for tomorrow’s Indy shows Johnson might drag Labour back towards hung Parliament territory.

In their wisdom, Labour have chosen electoral oblivion instead.

Prime Minister Johnson will lose the election, but could still torpedo Cameron

With expectations of a full scale Labour meltdown in the local and European elections this week, we are in another wave of speculation about whether the Prime Minister is about to be ousted in a coup. If the Labour Party had retained any sort of sense of self-preservation, Brown would have been shot long ago. But perhaps this time, his Cabinet colleagues will finally grow a backbone.

Surely, it’s way too late for the government to stand even a remote chance of clinging on for a fourth term. Their real challenge is just to avoid full scale electoral oblivion. Prevailing orthodoxy – although no actual polling data – suggests that Alan Johnson is the man to pull Labour back from its headlong dive towards annihilation.

That’s why the Health Secretary’s suggestion of a referendum on electoral reform might be more than mere kite-flying. Giving the public a straight choice between AV Plus and FPTP on General Election day could – if won by electoral reformers – cause the Tories some major positional difficulties during the election campaign and Cameron a huge headache as the incoming Prime Minister.

Although electoral reform wouldn’t necessarily be the dominant issue in the run-up to polling day, it would be a significant one. The Conservatives would be practically alone in advocating a “no” vote. This would flush them out as being merely committed to tinkering and cosmetic constitutional change.

But – deliciously – if the AV Plus proposal was carried, Prime Minister Cameron would be faced with having a duty to legislate for a major constitutional change that he personally opposed. If he failed to do so – and swiftly – his hand-wringing about the lack of a vote on the Lisbon Treaty would sound very hollow indeed.

As setting political traps goes, Johnson has a far sharper mind than the present incumbent of 10 Downing Street. Mind you, that’s not a particularly high hurdle to clear.

Labour in total meltdown – now at just 20% in the polls

The latest opinion polls show the Labour Party in an unprecedented state of collapse. A BPIX poll shows Labour on just 20%, with the Tories on 41% and the LibDems on 15%. The share for others is a staggering 23% of the vote. The ComRes poll for the Indy shows the Tories on 40%, Labour on 21% and the LibDems on 18% and the minor parties on 21%.

In even more catstrophic news for Labour, only 32% think that Alan Johnson would be a better Prime Minister than Brown, with 49% disagreeing. Staggering. Pick a name at random out tof the phonebook, and surely most people would think they’d bo a better job then Brown?

Are we witnessing not just the death of this repulsive, vile government, but the full scale eclipse of Labour as a meaningful political force? Here’s hoping.

UPDATE: The BPIX figures for the Mail on Sunday, on intention to vote in the Euro elections, are Conservative 30% Labour 17% UKP 17% LibDem 15%. By my maths, this puts non-UKIP “others” on 11%.