I woke up this morning in a really good mood following a great weekend on the doorstep. Lots of leaflets delivered and some very good responses on the door steps, particularly from Labour voters, or should I say ex-Labour voters.
We also held a really successful fundraiser in the Brigg area on Sunday afternoon which raised more than we expected so my mood was lifted even more. This was short lived though this morning when I picked up the Daily Telegraph to see a headline saying that the Tories are failing to make a breakthrough in the North.
I scratched my head a little bit as I couldn't quite square that with the results we are getting on the doorsteps at the moment. Anyway, a little digging soon put my fears to bed. Apparently, the poll on which the story was based does indeed show that in the North of England (defined as the North East, North West and Yorks and Humber regions) the Tories trail Labour Labour by 2% overall.
However, this represents a 8.5% swing on the 2005 election result, which is higher than the swing being recorded down south! That's enough to deliver this seat to the Tories with a majority in the thousands! Apparently the Tories trailed Labour in the North by 19% at the 2005 election.
So the story in the Telegraph could just have easilly read, 'Tories Making More Progress in the North than the South.' I despair . . .