Special Tree Posters

The former Tory Canyon of Mauldeth Rd has no Tory posters this year. They're pretty much extinct round here. But a few fringe posters have appeared within a short stagger from the Southern Hotel and the Co-op Late Shop.

One type calls for everyone to tear up their ballot and not vote to 'save democracy'. The others are headed with the Tory "Are you thinking ..." slogan and torch, followed by some lines jeering about their oblivion.

Both could be put up by Lib Dems. They are always trying to pull in tactical Tories. So much so that in the last few Generals the Tory vote has tumbled from 15,000 for a close second the first time they lost it, to around 5,000 now. The Libs meanwhile have gone up from a handful (and not in the Lib Dem sense) to almost 8,000.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Most of the Tory votes seem on the face of it to have transferred over from the one party to the other.

Protestors of the left who choose the Lib Dems are lining up with hang 'em and flog 'em Tories of the anyone-but-Labour tendancy.

This helps explain the scarcity of visible Lib Dem policy on the groun locally. And probably also Charles Kennedy's original reticence about the anti-war cause.