Journalists are digging into the pasts of both Dave and David – the scrutiny of Basher’s childhood is revealing interesting aspects to his back-story. The legend, oft-told by Davis in speech after speech, is that he was brought up by his single-mother on a council estate, triumphing over adversity to become a top businessman, before destiny called him to be premier.

Admirable, but is it true? Gossip suggests not exactly. Well-to-do grandparents played a significant part and looked after his early upbringing. Is he really working class? His family could afford to support him getting a university education. Not exactly three years of hardship, as a student he was a Tory activist (he came runner up when he stood for president of the Student Union, history repeating itself?) Much more middle class than working class methinks.

Its not exactly the Dick Whittington style legend he likes to project, maybe he should get a cat?

Pink News has endorsed Dave Cameron for leader:

Young gay professionals are the perfect group of people to support the Conservatives at the next election. They are natural conservatives, they want low taxes, personal freedoms and the ability to shape their own destinies.

It is the bigoted social conservatives (note the small c) that make the Conservatives unattractive when they attempt to portray being gay as being immoral and against ‘the natural order of things’.

Guido’s think – tank feature Propeller-Head Wonk Watch is one of the most popular services of this blog, it gets more attention in wonk-land than anything else. So today Guido is excited to announce a new and hopefully no less interesting occasional feature: “Wonk for Sale“. Guido hopes to highlight research and policy proposals which coincidentally reflect the interests of donors. Out in wonk-land an increasing number of think-tanks actually seem to act merely as PR operations rather than intellectual and high minded policy advocates.

This story was told to me by a former Demos intern. Asked at his interview what do you think about Demos? “I think you are very modern, because you have a lot of Ikea furniture.” “Ahh” replied the interviewer, “we wrote a pro-Ikea report and they paid us in furniture.” Guido wonders what report they could mean, surely not this by Charles Leadbeater?

Any more gossip about wonk-sluts? Send to the usual place Guido.

Davis is unlikely to thrill on the hustings, he can’t withdraw again because Fox would probably whinge and it would look like a fix. Cameron is clearly the overwhelming favourite. So why not have a phoney war, keep the Tories in the headlines, discuss ideas, have a gentlemanly clean fight and crown Cameron at the end of it.

The evidence :- the party establishment does not want this drawn out fight, Davis doesn’t look like his heart is in it and his team certainly don’t want to waste their time on a futile campaign. Davis has laid down the law about drugs, the Cameron “I haven’t done drugs since I became an MP” line should bring closure, so its a non-issue and the hustings are to be about policy alone. Basher told Today this morning that he will not be answering any questions about drugs. So its to be a clean fight and a chance to showcase the Tory renewal.

The Davids certainly seem to be developing a chummy double act. This could be boring…

Dr Fox’s courting of the Christian right was a source of amusement to some people I met last night at the Open Europe launch. They knew him from his Federation of Conservative Students days, the descriptions of his antics in those days would suggest that he very definitely qualified as a lapsed Catholic.

Anyway, lets all look forward to his impending marriage to Dr Jesme Beard.

The government’s education task force has told Guido’s co-religionist and Education minister, the Blessed Ruth Kelly, that teachers must be given explicit legal rights to punish pupils and to restrain unruly children by “reasonable force”. The Opus Dei numerary may want to suggest flagellation as an option, or even throwing grit in the corner and making errant pupils kneel on it to say the rosary. The pain in your knee caps is pointed, was always a favourite with my maths master.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

Andrew Rosindell keeps the flame of Thatcherism burning like no one else. “I call on Liam Fox and David Davis to form a Thatcherite dream ticket” he proclaimed after voting. Not sure how good his lunch was…

The tabloid press are for some reason extremely interested in who Eleanor Laing, divorced mother of one and shadow Scottish secretary, is backing for leader.

Cameron has votes to spare – maybe some Cameroonies should vote for Davis to ensure that its Cameron versus the walking wounded that is Basher?

Basher told the press this morning he was in Spartan mood. True. The Spartans fought to the death at Thermopylae and lost. (They did not pass go.)

“I know that some people use smears and I have heard them for years. They say ‘Why are you not married? You must be a playboy or a wildman or gay’, or whatever.” Dr Liam Fox today in the Evening Standard (interviewed yesterday).

Under absolutely no pressure from anyone, least of all Anne McElvoy or Joe Murphy at the Evening Standard, Fox suddenly claims to have been the subject of allegations that he is gay*. Well Guido’s stock in trade is dodgy gossip and I have never heard of any such claim about him. I have heard he chased the ladies – but he was a bachelor – its a legal, healthy pastime for a man. In fact the only dubious claim made about this is the nudge, nudge, wink wink suggestion that he shagged Natalie Imbruglia. She gets very irritated by the suggestion and its Fox who did all the nudge, nudge, wink, winking!

Fox is an innovative campaigner, you have to give him that, he managed to raise a false smear about himself to get himself onto the front page. Maybe he thought since the drugs smear helped Cameron, a Gay smear might help him?

*Apart from that silly story about a drunk student in Paris who slept in his bedroom after they emptied the contents of Foxy’s mini-bar.