Labour's latest target is "school gate mums", and Gordon Brown actually went to meet some.

As Jean Eaglesham writes in the FT: "The first walkout came before Mr Brown had reached the fifth page of his 14 page peroration, as one toddler headed for the exit."

The strategy to appeal to a personification of a crucial, but shifting section of the electorate is reminiscent of Bill Clinton's specific appeal to soccer moms, and subsequently George W Bush's skilful tying together of the issues of family values and national security in the embodiment of the "security moms".

One wonders, however, what might be the British equivalent of Bush's other, complementary, demographic, the "Nascar Dads".

"Premiership punters" anyone?


The Tories concentrated on the issues of tax and pensions, with Michael Howard accusing Labour of breaking promises to the elderly and of "airbrushing pensioners out" of society.

In case anyone, politician or otherwise, was in any doubt of the debt owed to that generation, today was the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Belsen concentration camp by British troops.

And talking of the armed forces, on the heels of the postal voting scandals, comes this story in The Independent about how an administrative error by the MoD has jeopardised the votes of "tens of thousands" of service personnel.

Opposition parties will argue, of course, that the government may be keen to minimise any dissent among troops dissatisfied with either the war in Iraq or the potential streamlining of the Scottish regiments.

One serving officer tells the Indy:

"The Iraqis we were living with, and training, have been able to get out and vote. But it seems an afterthought that we should be able to vote. It's absolutely shocking."




The latest Sky News/YouGov poll features an election "interest index" which currently stands at 61 per cent for 'Boring', 36 per cent for 'Interesting'

It also, interestingly, showed that immigration is now the top issue on which those polled will make their decision. The results came on the same day that UKIP launched its manifesto under, as The Times reports, the even-handed message: "We Want Our Country Back".

Sky News also used YouGov's "Smileometer" to monitor - appropriately - the Tories' latest cinema ad aimed at their ever-present target: Mr Blair's smirk.


And, finally, was it remotely possible for Jeremy Paxman to look any more disinterested in what Frank Luntz had to say on Newsnight last night?