Embarrassed at having failed to predict the Clegg surge, the Tory press are monstering him before tonight’s debate. Has nobody told them that when in a hole stop digging? This is setting up Clegg nicely for the second half of the campaign. Most attention is focused on the Lib Dem leader, some on Cameron, precious little on Brown. This is probably just as well from Labour’s point of view.
The comment on the MSM bullies is mostly negative, not least from their own. Two of the stars of the Tory commentariat speak more in sorrow than in anger on the state of the Cameron campaign. The frantic efforts to dig for dirt on Nick Clegg are a “a terrible indictment of the British press”, says Iain Dale, Tory archblogger. He wants Cameron to win ” but not like this.” Ben Brogan of the Daily Telegraph, always partisan but normally the calmest of souls says it’s too early to talk about an existential crisis .. but… “the situation is perilous, changeable, and recoverable – but only just. Brogan talks of Ken Clarke’s ” master class” yesterday when the supposedly wise old man of the Tory campaign raised the bogey of an IMF crisis in the event of the ” disaster” of a hung parliament. If that’s the best the Conservatives can come up with, it is too late.
Former BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London
Last poll has lib dems back in third place
Their’s is certainly the only statistically significant drop…
I’d expect it to drop much further in the real poll, if only because they don’t have the capacity on the ground to fight the necessary ground wars to make concrete gains…
The Tories have lost this election, there will be a lib/lab coalition, new PR for future elections effectively locking the Tories out of power for a generation
Do I hear the sound of a man counting chicken inside his basket of eggs?
Harry
No there wont. There will be a Tory majority fo 25 to 40 seats and the Lib / Lab coalition is a pipe dream.
The poll of polls on the BBC website has Conservatives 32%, Lib Dems 31% and Labour 27% .
Translated into seats that means Conservatives 237 , Labour 256 and Lib Dems 128 with others 29 .
The chickens have hatched and some are coming home to roost . The Tories have dropped from 40% to 32% since Feb with Labour dropping 4% in the same period. The Lib Dems have gone from 19% to 31% in the same period .
Even if there is slippage back to the two ‘former’ main parties between now and election day it’s still very much odds on for a ‘hung’ parliament . Ken Clarke is straw grasping and the Tory press barons could well put the kibosh on Cameron’s chances . The Tories have to hope that they can at least exceed Labour in the number of seats May 6th and hope to do better later if any LL coalition falls apart .