It was a little sad today to see that many of the papers front pages had gone “Clegg bashing” in an attempt to derail his emergence as a key player.
With the 2nd leaders debate tonight it will be interesting to see how all 3 change tact in order to get the much needed “win” on the night.
However, as my esteemed colleague Rob Gill just pointed out, “British politicians do not try to win elections they wait for others to lose them”. In other words the level of scrutiny is so high now that trying to say nothing much at all is often better than saying something that can then be either pulled apart or lambasted as nonsense, whether taken in or out of context.
It used to be the case that a week was a long time in politics, but now, after the much anticipated Leaders debate last night delivered a surprisingly enticing slice of political drama, 90 minutes can be an entire career.
Enter stage left one Nick Clegg. Making a mockery of Tory claims that Vince Cable had an advantage from the centre position, he took his chance with both hands and delivered a positively authoritative performance which threw the election wide open.
Perhaps one of my favourite episodes of my favourite ever TV programme “The West Wing” was when Presidential candidates Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda went head-to-head in a US Presidential televised debate.
Not only was the acting superb, clearly part scripted – part improvised and performed live, it gave an enthralling insight into these events.
Here we saw two fine actors portraying Democrat and Republican candidates with real political passion, distinct policies and fervent principles. If you get a chance to find it, download and watch it, because this is how it should be and what unfortunately we are unlikely to see tonight.
The latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, (CML), showing a modest improvement in the number of loans month-on-month is a welcome sight. What is more striking is the fact that loans for house purchases have increased by 49% year-on-year, albeit from a low base.
Given the amount of activity we have seen in the last few weeks, I would expect to see this figure increase further in the coming months as the traditional Spring uplift filters through.
Taken together with the latest report from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, (RICS), that says that the number of sellers has hit the highest level since May 2007 it would seem that a healthy property market is returning.
The first week of campaigning is almost over and I have already tried to ban myself from shouting at the TV! The issue with our politics today and a reason why many are switching off is that whatever idea, good or bad a party has, the opposition automatically criticises and opposes it. Idealism and political passions have given way to a brand of PR Playground Politics.
In the Property and Mortgage Industries there has already been some wild debate around what effect, if any, a brand new Government would have. It is becoming apparent that there are only two realistic outcomes, a slight majority either way or a Hung Parliament, neither of which will really give anyone a decisive mandate to actually govern, so uncertainty could unfortunately be around for a while yet.
Andrew Montlake, Communications Director at Coreco and ‘Mortgage Personality of the Year 2008’, gives his views — honest and no holds barred — on the latest developments within the mortgage and property markets.
