And here's who I voted for....

Now that the Great List has finally been published, here's a reminder of who I voted for, with their positions in Iain Dale's poll in brackets.

1 Political Betting (5)
2 Iain Dale's Diary (1)
3 Liberal England (53)
4 Bloggerheads (57)
5 Benedict Brogan (14)
6 Chicken Yoghurt (29)
7 Guido Fawkes (2)
8 Dizzy Thinks (3)
9 UK Daily Pundit (79)
10 Skipper (105)
11 Rachel From North London (49)
12 Tom Watson (22)
13 Nick Robinson (8)
14 Mars Hill (87)
15 Little Man in a Toque (88)
16 Nether-World (277)
17 Obsolete (195)
18 ConservativeHome (4)
19 Kate's Home Blog (Not listed in Top 500 - shame!)
20 Newer Labour (73)

18th place

My copy of the Guide to Political Blogging 2007 arrived on my doormat today and I am very pleased to see that this blog is still rated among the UK's Top 20 political blogs, as chosen by 500 readers of Iain Dale's Diary.

Although my 18th place represents a drop of eight places from last year, when I was placed 10th, I am actually pretty chuffed just to stay in the Top 20 as the past 12 months have not been easy ones in terms of maintaining the work-life-blog balance.

I was also placed fourth in the "media blogs" category behind Nick Robinson, Spectator Coffee House and Ben Brogan, and while it is gratifying to be named in such illustrious company, I do have a slight issue with this categorisation.

No doubt it was an innocent mistake, but unlike Nick, Ben, and the Spectator boys and girls, whose blogs are essentially adjuncts to their print or broadcast journalism, I am no longer a full-time journalist and the political columns I write for two regional newspapers are not my main source of income.

Update: The full list of the top 300 blogs can now be viewed over at Iain's place.

The perils of political punditry

Having said on more than one occasion that Gordon Brown would not call an election this autumn, it's looking increasingly like it could be egg-on-face time for me if Gordon decides to go for it over the course of this weekend.

That said, it looks like I am in good company. As BBC political editor Nick Robinson admits on his blog today, he himself initially described talk of an early election as tosh.

I took the view I did because I do not believe that the public wants an election at this stage, and that against that backdrop Brown will struggle to increase Labour's majority beyond 66. I still hold to that, and agree wholeheartedly with Guido that 3.5 - 1 against the Tories being the largest single party represents good value at the moment.

I'll be saying a bit more about why in my weekend column which will will be posted here tomorrow after it has appeared in the Newcastle Journal and Derby Evening Telegraph.