The odds on Chris Huhne winning the Liberal Democrat leadership race never seem to make sense.
Last time round, when he lost to Sir Menzies Campbell, the odds on his victory shortened dramatically for no apparent reason. This gave his "dark horse" campaign some much needed attention. Many suspected that Mr Huhne’s wealthier supporters manipulated the betting market to give him a boost. Whatever the truth of it, the bookies were delighted. Read more
The briefing session started with a chirpy "Hi I’m Vince Cable" and ended with me walking out of the room fumbling around for my phone to withdraw an offer I’ve just made on a house. "After a week of jokes" the acting Liberal Democrat leader, part time comedian and Brown baiter thought he "should get down to something more serious". It is hard to know what Gordon Brown will be more scared of.
Mr Cable returned to his favourite riff: Britain’s housing market is in the midst of a "grossly inflated bubble" that is about to burst. This time he came armed with slides – terrifyingly pointy slides. "The logic of the position is painfully clear," he told us. "It is going to crash." Read more
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Jim Pickard is the FT's chief political correspondent, having joined the lobby team in January 2008. He has been at the FT since 1999 as a regional correspondent, assistant UK news editor and property correspondent.
Kiran Stacey is an FT political correspondent, having joined the lobby in 2011. He started at the FT as a graduate trainee in 2008, working on desks including UK companies and US equity markets before taking over the FT's Energy Source blog.
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