No, not Michael Howard, although it must be tempting. Just as he should be celebrating a new poll that puts the Tories only a point behind Labour, the deputy chairman has resigned after letting the cat out of the bag. Or should that be ‘cuts’ out of the bag? In a secretly taped conversation Howard Flight revealed that their proposed £35bn cuts in public spending is actually understating their intentions. That’s just for public consumption. He said that their aim was to make far greater cuts if they win power.

This sort of talk might fill those on the right with the joys of spring, but their vote is already assured. It is the middle ground, the floating voter, that Howard needs to attract, and this is another setback in that regard. In recent weeks Howard has banged on about immigration, gypsies, abortion, and sending kids up chimneys. No doubt The Daily Mail, and their readers, love this rhetoric, but they were never going to vote Labour anyway.

Even to those who think immigration is a big issue, and don’t like gypsies very much, Howard comes across as an unattractive person. It hardly advances his aim to shake off his previous image of having ’something of the night about him’. And then there’s the fact that many voters see him as the opportunist he is. Telling them what they want to hear in a rush to get it all in before the election. As well as unattractive, Howard comes across as desperate.It seems unlikely Howard will endear himself to the voters before May 5th, this latest poll notwithstanding.

As we intimated earlier this week, this election is about the ‘traditional Labour voter’. If they come out and vote for Blair he will win comfortably.