The commentators                    20-02-15

...on the general election

For all the undue attention trained on the intriguing newer small parties, the only small party that really matters is the duller older one. The SNP can and will damage Labour. Ukip can and will damage the Conservatives. The Lib Dems, though, are the only viable candidate among them to join the government of Britain. The second term for the coalition, which was nowhere in the betting markets six months ago, is creeping towards likely.
- Philip Collins, The Times
In the coming general election, the parties and the commentators will fan out across Britain as never before. This general election will not be won and lost at the national level, as such contests normally were in the second half of the 20th century, when there was a standard Conservative-Labour battle in most constituencies, and when a broadly uniform national swing between the big two parties shaped the final verdict.
- Martin Kettle, The Guardian
The general election on May 7 2015 is an important moment in British history. Great doubt exists over the configuration of parties in the next House of Commons. One possible outcome is a referendum on the country’s future in the EU, leading to a British exit and then Scotland’s departure from the UK. That is not all. Among the questions are what the public want the state to do and whether they are prepared to pay for it.
- Martin Wolf, Financial Times
Martin Vander Weyer
Voters care a lot less about the deficit than they do about wages, prices and their future prospects. So while we may still not like Mr Osborne very much, the economic and political tide is flowing his way.
- Martin Vander Weyer, Daily Telegraph
Picture
Up until five or ten years ago, it would not be unusual for editorial to throw out or move an ad if it sat uncomfortably with the news on a given page. That tended to be in everybody's interests: BA no more wants its ad on a page devoted to an air crash than the journalist placing the story. This may still be the case, although I suspect that these days pressure would be on editorial to reposition the story rather than the other way about.
If so, that is an example of fissures starting to appear in that dividing wall. If a story, however insignificant, has to move from its optimum position in the paper because of advertising considerations, a line has been crossed.
A layman's guide to the relationship between editorial and advertising

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