LibDem Duncan Hames got down and dirty in 2010, blasting his Tory opponent for being “a Devon farmer who splits his time between his three homes, leaving him out of touch with local people”. Five years on and the MP defending a perilous 2,000 majority has done rather well for himself during his time in parliament.

Hames declares on his Statement of Persons Nominated that he lives at an address in Holt, in his Chippenham constituency.

His wife, fellow LibDem MP Jo Swinson, discloses on her election forms that she lives in Bearsden, in her East Dumbartonshire constituency. Mr and Mrs Hames either live separate lives or must be spending time at each other’s ‘main’ homes.

Swinson also claims on expenses for another property in London, where they live together during the week.

Five years after attacking his opponent for the very same thing, Hames is now: “Splitting his time between his three homes, leaving him out of touch with local people…”

It’s a parody…

“Mr Miliband believes that living standards are squeezed because markets are rigged—and that the government can step in to fix them. He would freeze prices while “reviewing” energy markets, clamp down on the most flexible “zero-hour” labour contracts and limit rent rises. Along with this suspicion of private markets is an aversion to competition in the public sector, leading to proposals for, say, a cap on profit margins when private companies contract to provide services for the NHS.

Mr Miliband is fond of comparing his progressivism to that of Teddy Roosevelt, America’s trustbusting president. But the comparison is false. Rather than using the state to boost competition, Mr Miliband wants a heavier state hand in markets—which betrays an ill-founded faith in the ingenuity and wisdom of government. Even a brief, limited intervention can cast a lasting pall over investment and enterprise—witness the 75% income-tax rate of France’s president, François Hollande. The danger is all the greater because a Labour government looks fated to depend on the SNP, which leans strongly to the left.

On May 7th voters must weigh the certainty of economic damage under Labour against the possibility of a costly EU exit under the Tories. With Labour, the likely partnership with the SNP increases the risk. For the Tories, a coalition with the Lib Dems would reduce it. On that calculus, the best hope for Britain is with a continuation of a Conservative-led coalition. That’s why our vote is for Mr Cameron.”

Paving the way for the FT?

Head over to the BBC Election hub today and you won’t you won’t see Britain’s best read newspaper backing the Tories as a featured top story, nor the fact an opinion poll from a respected pollster has the Tories leading by five points. Apparently Natalie Bennett talking about climate change is news…

The Tories “unequivocally” deny making any overtures, however LibDem sources familiar with the situation say they have held informal talks with their former coalition counterparts about streamlining the departments in a second government.

One suggestion is that DCMS and BIS could be merged into one department, run by Sajid Javid. There have long been rumours that Osborne is not averse to abolishing DCMS. This would mean the media and telecoms brief – transferred away from BIS after Vince Cable’s “war on Murdoch” comments – would be brought back under the responsibility of the new Business Secretary.

The LibDems’ price for Cable’s demotion would be taking DfE. Clegg last week demanded a LibDem Education Secretary and last night declared education spending a red line in any deal. It was initially speculated that Clegg might want the job for himself, though sources suggest David Laws could be their choice for Secretary of State. The Tories insist any suggestion of any pre-election deal is “b*llocks”.  Of course if the LibDems lose the bulk of their 57 seats it all becomes immaterial… 

A LibDem leaflet from Wantage: 

Guido was commended by Royal Statistical Society at the Statistical Excellence in Journalism Awards 2014, so is in a strong position to pass judgement on such matters. Looks fine to him…