Down on the farm

Chat with the nfu - Have met them from time to time over the last few years and I have to say that I reckon the highspot of the event was probably the production of a large fruit cake (devoured by the farmers) rather than Lib Dem policy!

One of those present uttered the words "when you're re-elected" and another made a giggling sound. I told him not to laugh because although I had a fight on my hands the campaign was going well. Happened to mention that the biggest surprise to me was that the Tory vote was not firming up and lifelong Tories were reluctant to vote Conservative. I expressed the opinion that this was probably because of the negative national campaign which was not appealing to traditional Tory voters and was aware of some nodding of heads.

Later in the day I chatted to a lovely lady of 87 who told me that her father had been a Conservative candidate and she had voted Tory all her life. Expressed the view that it was difficult to change the habits of a lifetime and she disagreed with me and said she liked a lot of our policies. I suspect she will eventually vote Conservative but as time goes on the more I think this negativity will backfire.