Election websites to watch

I mentioned in a previous posting here that I thought bookmakers have more of value to say about the forthcoming election than opinion pollsters (though the Electoral Calculus site is really worth a look for its detailed predictions in individual seats) If the excellent (though troll-infested) Political Betting site isn’t enough for you, here’s Betfair’s dedicated election site that allows you to embed this widget in your site – worth it if only to enjoy the excitement of YouGov’s polling (certainly the consumer’s choice if not the psephologists):

None of the sites are able to declare very much about Northern Ireland yet. My informants on the ground tell me that there are six parliamentary constituencies that can realistically expect to be contested (the rest being ‘safe’) but none of the betting sites are saying very much yet.

Onto the more academic end of election coverage, there are some very useful slides here on the LSE blog including one by Dave Sanders that digs into the public attitude towards politics and how this will effect the outcome. Pat Dunleavy has a good set up about the future of our electoral and party system.

According to the blurb, this blog collects perspectives on the election you won’t find anywhere else, by political experts, based in the School of Politics and International Relations at The University of Nottingham. It links to Mark Pack who always has something worthwhile to say, and I’m a bit annoyed that I missed this post the first time around. I particularly like his conclusion:

“….whilst the impact of the internet on politics may be a nuanced and mixed picture, there is no doubt one winner – political scientists who have many fields of future research open to them.”

Elsewhere, there are websites dedicated to the coverage of issues related to meat, nursing and ….. watch this space (I’m sure that more of them are on the way).