The Liberal Democrats may not have succeeded in 'decapitating' key members of the Tory leadership at the last election (Charles Kennedy had hoped to oust David Davis, Michael Howard and Theresa May) but the Conservatives, says The Telegraph's Andrew Pierce, are hopeful that tactical voting and some extra resources could defeat six of Labour's leading faces:
- Ed Balls, Schools and Families Secretary who has a projected majority of 9,784 in Morley and Outwood and the Tory chosen to operate the guillotine is beer and sandwich Conservative Anthony Calvert.
- Ben Bradshaw, Culture Secretary, who faces the formidable Hannah Foster and her bid to overturn a projected majority of 9,208.
- The Chancellor, Alistair Darling, who is defending a projected majority of 7,242 from Jason Rust in Edinburgh South West.
- John Denham, Local Government and Communities Secretary, defending a majority of 8,484 from Royston Smith in Southampton Itchen.
- Jim Murphy, Scottish Secretary, in East Renfrewshire is facing Richard Cook.
- Jack Straw, Justice Secretary, has a projected majority over the Conservatives of 8,016. Michael Law-Riding is our candidate in Blackburn.
This may be something of a summer season story about this but Andrew Pierce has a quote from a "senior Tory source":
“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.”
The Conservatives are keen to force Labour MPs to spend as much time as possible defending their own backyards and distract them from more strategic campaigning. I'm not convinced about wanting to oust Ed Balls, however. He would be a leading champion of Brownite factionalism in Opposition.
Tim Montgomerie
