Yeah, Probably For The Best

The Tories are going for weakest link politics and having failed to break that 'psychologically important' 200-seat barrier, Howard's off to spend more time with his coffin and cape Liverpool season ticket.

Interesting then that he wants to change the party's rules on electing a successor and has made his hope for a "younger leader" known.

Oh, and the Spectator's 'hypothetical' analysis today:

A victory for Howard would be a stunning vindication of his courage, resilience, patience, powers of organisation and penchant for spasmodic acts of apodeictic ruthlessness.

Whatever happens this Thursday, the Conservative party owes Michael Howard a huge debt of thanks.

...

If the Tories lose, there will be the usual gleeful post-mortem. It will be asserted that the Tories once again contrived to sound nasty, and that the campaign focused too much on immigration.

...

The dismal truth is that Labour has temporarily brainwashed the electorate into believing that there is no way of improving public services without continuing Gordon Brown’s campaign to turn Britain into a kind of Sweden.

Damn their oily hides, as Mr Burns would say.