The usual form, on mornings such as these, is to put up a post setting the scene for the
elections ahead – although, really, there’s not much more to add than was said yesterday. Apart from a readers’ survey in the Metro this morning, the only poll to hit after yesterday’s
ICM bombshell is a YouGov one for the Sun, and it gives No a 20-point lead. Even given the complications of turnout and
geography, it looks as though Team No are heading for a straightforward victory.
As if to underline his increased personal involvement in the campaign, and perhaps tie himself that little bit closer to the eventual result, David Cameron has not one, but two, comment pieces in the papers today – in the Mail and in the Sun. The points that he makes in both are, of course, similar: that AV is unfair, that it unravels the principle of “one person, one vote,” and so on. In both, the PM also makes the point that AV will cost more to implement – “At a time when money is so tight, if you ask me, those millions would be far better spent in our hospitals and schools” – although he declines to use the £250 million price tag that has so enraged Chris Huhne.
It’s a peculiarity of today’s elections that Cameron might emerge from them in a fairly strong position, despite his party losing several hundred council seats and underwhelming, as always, in Scotland. By entwining his name with the No campaign, the Tory leader has what is likely to be a clear and defining success on his scorecard. Ed Miliband, by constrast, will have Labour gains in England, but probably also a strange collapse in Scotland and defeat for AV to contend with. And as for Nick Clegg … well, we all know about Nick Clegg. He, and we, shall face the fallout tomorrow.
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