The dividing lines the Tories are drawing are false but powerful Those glued to BBC Parliament over the Easter bank holiday watched the 1983 election played out in real time. The longest suicide note in history. Arthur Scargill and the Militants. Hapless media performances. Labour politicians blaming the Social Democratic party, the media and, by …

In a major new publication, Peter Kellner assesses Labour’s prospects of winning an outright majority in 2015. With two years to go until the general election, he argues Labour must defy history, overcome some awkward numbers, and overcome persistent weaknesses in the reputation of the party. And he outlines new polling for Progress about Labour’s …

Ed Miliband has accomplished much over the past two years. The battle to win a majority in 2015 will open a new phase in his leadership, writes Steve Van Riel For the last two years, wherever Ed Miliband has chosen to focus his political energy he has had a great deal of success. Nick Clegg’s …

Ed Miliband’s strength has exposed Labour’s stress points. How do we stop these turning into damaging cracks? Those advising Miliband feel a sense of frustration with the sudden emergence of discontent last month about Labour’s position. The economy is sputtering, Labour has a consistent lead in the polls, the government stumbles from economic failure to …

Thank you for that kind reception. But it is great to be here at Progress. For nearly 20 years Progress has been an important forum for debate in our party, and it will to continue to provide that in the future. That’s why I am proud to be here today. We meet – as we …

The general elections of 1945, 1979 and 1997 are rightly deemed to be milestones in postwar British political history. But if Ed Miliband leads Labour to victory in 2015, that achievement will instantly earn itself a place in the history books. Put to one side Labour’s narrow win in February 1974 – when it won …

Especially given we were fighting county councils which were natural Tory or Lib Dem territory, Labour had some good results last Thursday: new mayors in Doncaster and North Tyneside, taking control of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire councils, and even winning a county council seat in Witney – Cameron’s backyard. Our progress in the south was encouraging …

As the sun rose over Essex this morning, there was one result from our county council elections that all sides agreed on – Essex county council has never been so politically diverse. ‘Essex Man’ has always been a pretty good barometer of what the population as a whole thinks and feels, and the outcome of …

If you want an insight into how the 2015 election might play out, don’t look at the results of the local elections. Look at the new five-pound note. When Winston Churchill replaces Elizabeth Fry on the back of the fiver, notes in England and Wales will celebrate a statesman, an inventor, a scientist and a …

Thursday’s council elections are the most difficult in the cycle for Labour. There are no elections in most of the biggest urban areas, including London and the six former metropolitan counties, nor in Scotland, nor in Wales except for Anglesey. Instead, the main battleground is the rural shire counties, which were largely gerrymandered in a …