Peering across the aisle, the Statesman's media commentator, Brian Cathcart is puzzled by what he sees as a grudging reaction to the election gains:
The conservative press is less than happy today because it does not like or trust David Cameron, even after he has delivered them their first piece of good electoral news since 1992. The news pages and the political correspondents may suggest jubilation and optimism, but that is not the view at the hearts of these papers...He may look a winner now, but he is not their man... And they are having trouble coming to terms with their lack of control.
We keep being told that current events mirror those of 1995, when John Major's Conservatives were crushed in local elections, pointing the way towards the 1997 landslide. The mirror may be truer than we imagine, for back then who on the left liked or trusted Tony Blair?
Interesting point. I have almost exactly the same allergic reaction to Mr C that I had with the early version of Blair. Maybe it's not him. Maybe I just don't understand the rules of the game.