Mark Thompson is a Lib Dem blogger who regularly posts here. Follow Mark on Twitter
There have been two significant political stories recently that have caught my eye with respect to Conservative internal democracy. I have found them particularly interesting given my background as a Lib Dem member and activist.
The first was the confirmation last month that Lords reform was being dropped for this parliament. The second was the reports this week that pressure is being exerted on David Cameron from his backbenches to rethink his opposition to a third runway at Heathrow.
Both of these issues have something in common. They are policies that were in the Conservative manifesto*.
It is surely quite strange that nearly 100 of the party's MPs were willing to vote against Lords reform. When you include ministers who were likely supporting the measures under sufferance it wouldn't at all surprise me if less than half of the Parliamentary Conservative Party in the Commons actually supported the bill. There appears to be a similar groundswell forming against the Heathrow policy.