Tories gnawing the Lib Dem lifebelt
Tories do indeed seem to have all but given up on cracking the nut of Labour seats. Birmingham Northfield still gets talked about, as does Halifax. But others like Southampton Itchen and Newcastle-under-Lyme, where a lot of Tory money has been spent, now look out of reach, a Tory source tells me.
Tories insist that some Lib Dem seats they thought were out of reach – like North Devon, Colchester and Kingston – might be gettable. But the problem here is that the Tories are in danger of desperately gnawing through the very lifebelt they may need after 7 May. Put that to senior Tories and they acknowledge the problem but feel they can do no other.