The twelve political stories of Christmas (in case you missed them)

Tim Montgomerie

If today is your first day back at the computer and you missed ConHome's holiday coverage (we only took Christmas Day off!) here are the twelve most important stories that will bring you bang up-to-date...

1. The Cabinet held secret discussions just before Christmas - initiated by Andrew Mitchell - in which Conservative ministers discussed how to help the Lib Dems win in Oldham East and Saddleworth.
2. Philip Hammond said that airports and other transport hubs may face fines if, like Heathrow, they struggle to perform adequately in bad weather conditions.
3. Partly to appease the Liberal Democrats, partly to avoid not looking focused on the economy, partly because of parliamentary arithmetic, a vote on foxhunting probably won't take place until 2012 or even later. A new anti-hunting group of Tory MPs has been formed.
4. Plans to give voters the right to petition parliament were confirmed. Get 99,999 people to sign up to your idea and MPs will be compelled to debate it.
5. Somewhat unfairly, commentators started giving Cameron a reputation for u-turns.
6. David Cameron agrees a controversial plan to keep Lib Dems happy by allowing serious prison offenders the right to vote.
7. Francis Maude announced interesting ideas on encouraging charitable giving but ToryDiary asked if they'd create a more society or state-orientated voluntary sector.
8. In his new year message, David Cameron warned of a difficult year to come.
9. Mark Pritchard MP spoke out against the "purple plotters" and a "Frankenstein" merger of the Conservatives and Lib Dems.
10. Jonathan Isaby poured cold water on the idea that the Coalition's looming Europe Bill could be defeated, as the press have speculated.
11. CCHQ published a dossier on Ed Miliband's first 100 days of "dither and disarray".
12. A majority of councils still haven't complied with Eric Pickles' transparency requirements.