News from the David Davis Campaign
How to beat the LibDems
David spoke at a meeting in Winchester this morning – a Liberal Democrat held seat in the battleground county of Hampshire.

He was able to draw on his own experiences in fighting the LibDems to set out how the Conservative Party can tackle the threat they pose in the coming years.

“I know how to beat LibDems. I did it in my own constituency. They boasted they would decapitate me. Instead I trebled my majority”, he said.

That email was sent out from Basher’s bunker yesterday, much to the irritation of a Guido operative armed with a calculator. He points out that Basher originally won the seat in 1997 with a reduced majority of 7,514 over the LibDems (a swing against Davis to the LibDems of 9.5%). Such was his effectiveness as a campaigner against the LibDems that in 2001 his was majority was further slashed to 1,903 (another swing from Davis to the LibDems of 5.4%).

So 2005 was a panic in the face of that trend, Basher plagued CCO for support and resources were poured into the constituency to bolster his campaign. Tory HQ was bullied into mounting a hugely disproportionate effort into what was once a safe Tory seat. It worked, his majority was increased to 5,118, a swing back of 4.2%. But still well down on the majority he inherited originally. How can Basher claim he knows how to beat the Libdems when he has succeeded only in reducing his majority over them?