- Politicalbetting.com
Politicalbetting.com is one of Britain's most popularFact|date=October 2007 political blogs. Run by Mike Smithson, a former BBC journalist, Liberal Democrat councillor and general election candidate, the site began in March 2004.
Unlike most other British political blogs, politicalbetting is non-partisan, although Smithson himself is a Liberal Democrat. As the site's name suggests, the focus is on political betting opportunities, but the focus is rather broader, in the sense that political issues of the day have an impact on the various betting markets. The site has a particular focus on
opinion polls , and in general is more concerned with the technical aspects of politics than most other blogs.The site has attracted a large number of commenters, with up to three posts a day (mostly written by Smithson) typically seeing several hundred commenters, many of whom have no interest or knowledge of political betting but follow the site for its coverage of the fortunes and likely electoral success of political parties in Britain. On an average day the volume of comments exceeds 30,000 wordsFact|date=October 2007. Commenters include MPs
Nick Palmer , John Hemming andStewart Jackson . The site sticks almost entirely to British and American politics, with an occasional mention of Australian elections, and major elections in other European countries.The success of the site has led Smithson to publish a book, The Political Punter, a guide to betting on politics.
External links
* [http://www.politicalbetting.com Politicalbetting.com]
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