General Election Betting / Andrew Hughes / 18 October 2007 / Leave a comment

Election this year now a 2.2 chance

AT 4pm yesterday, the Betfair odds on a 2007 General Election were 1.5. And earlier in the week they were as short as 1.33.

But they suddenly began to drift yesterday afternoon, and punters awoke this morning to Betfair odds of 2.2 that Gordon Brown will go to the polls this year.

So, from being 75 per cent likely to see a General Election this year, the Betfair odds now suggest that there is only a 47 per cent chance of an early push to the polls.

Betfair spokesman Tony Calvin commented: "Clearly someone got wind of the revised polls after David Cameron's impressive speech to the Tory Party Conference on Wednesday, and I see one now has the two parties neck and neck.

"Our odds suggest it is now unlikely that Brown will go early, and an election in January to June 2009 has now been backed into second favouritism at 4.5.

"If Brown does hold fire, there is a real danger he will look weak, and Labour have drifted accordingly from 1.43 to 1.5 to win most seats in the next election."

Tags: David Cameron, general election betting, Gordon Brown, politics betting