Anyone old than 30 years of age will remember how in the period from 1993-1997 the word "sleaze" became almost permanently attached to the word "Tory" as the Tory party lurched from one self inflicted wound to another. When I read some young Conservative blogs I just wonder how keen they would be to be Conservative if they could actually remember what a Tory government was like. However, Labour se...

About that "Tory-Nat alliance"... Timing is important in politics - which is why the following sequence of events was slightly unfortunate for Labour yesterday. 1.30pm: Iain Gray takes a swipe at the "Tory-Nat alliance" at Holyrood. (It's part of Labour's pre-emptive strike on the Tory conference in Perth today.) 4.15pm: Labour join forces with the Tories to press for mandatory jail terms for knif...

In a speech today Labour's Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, welcomed two former Conservative Party activists to the Labour Party and said the project to change the Conservative Party had failed. David Miliband said: "The Tory head and the Tory heart are at odds. The head tells them that the world has changed, that they have been rejected at three elections because they were seen as the nast...

Some Labour and Lib dem figures are talking of a “progressive alliance” to prevent a Conservative government. This alliance seems to mean 1. Spending well beyond our means and borrowing huge sums – why is it progressive to borrow money from poorer Chinese to pursue

The Conservative party is seeking to broaden its appeal beyond England with an alliance with the Ulster Unionist party (UUP).

The splendid Stuart Reid writes: Things are not looking too good for Labour right now, but I take little comfort in the prospect of a Tory government - and I speak as a lifelong Tory voter. There is scarcely anything conservative about the David Cameron's Conservative Party. Like Mrs Thatcher's, it is a party mainly for liberals and libertarians, thought it still hopes to keep the support of the h...

Why don't we just give Tory MPs Labour membership cards and be done with it? It seems to me that the Government thinks it's being smart by getting support from Tory MPs. I think Tory MPs are smart for getting their natural gifts (wars, privatisations and crackdowns) supported by the Labour Party... Tories, Lib Dems and the Government, versus activists, the unions, Labour backbenchers and...

Latest polling: “Liberal Democrat supporters say they would prefer a Conservative government to a Labour one by 51% to 16%. ” While our polling is now giving Labour a consistent lead in the polls, if asked a forced choice question on whether people would rather have a Conservative government led by David Cameron or a Labour

The Observer has a cracking scoop: a brief document detailing a new Labour plan to attack Cameron. The memo has been written by Shaun Woodward, the former Tory MP and Labour cabinet minister who now heads Labour’s anti-Tory unit. He will report to the shadow cabinet in the next few weeks. He says: ‘At the last election we faced a Conservative party (and a Conservative leader in David C...

Excellent results here. Seats: Tory 4 UKIP 2 Lib Dem 2 Greens 1 Labour 1 To beat Labour across the region is great - but to top the poll in Brighton and Oxford is even better. Bodes very well for the general election. The Greens are the only party who won a seat to increase their vote share. Conservative 812,288 34.8 (-0.4) 4 UK Independence Party 440,002 18.8 (-0.7) 2 Liberal Democrats 330,340 14...