Polls slumping amid Ashcroft revelations

What a pig's ear. That's one way of summing up the way things look right now, with Labour gaining ground and the polls showing a bigger and bigger mountain to climb if David Cameron ever thinks the party's going to govern.

Spring conference should have been a rallying call, with policies people could relate to. But instead of arming candidates for the final battle with the weapons they need to win it, we're in the doldrums.

Hung Parliament might be the best Conservatives could hope for, if yet more polls are to be believed. The telling line is in today's Independent:

The party faces the daunting challenge of capturing 117 seats to achieve a majority of just one – a task described by a shadow cabinet member as a "mountain to climb".

Brown seems to be made of Teflon at the moment. Not even the Iraq inquiry is denting Labour's steady climb back up the ratings.

Ashcroft won't be Cameron's Waterloo. Would Wellington had beaten Napoleon if he hadn't revealed his battle plan to the rank and file beforehand..?