There’s an intriguing story in today’s Telegraph about how the Tories plan to “decapitate” – that is, target and win the seats of – certain Labour ministers come the next election. The list is said to include Alastair Darling, Ed Balls and Jack Straw. Here’s what a “senior shadow cabinet source” told the paper:
“Certain Labour Party big beasts, and they know who they are, are already experiencing more activity on the ground from us. We are going to make Ed Balls and Alistair Darling and some of their ministerial colleagues feel very uncomfortable.
They will not only be fighting their most difficult general election campaign on a national front in two decades but they will also have really tricky contests in their own constituencies.”
You can understand the thinking behind this. The Tories hope to divert these ministers from their government work and get them mired in tight (and costly) constituency battles.
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