While the Lib Dems are unpopular, they are organised and hard working and adept at driving down the turnout, mostly by persuading everyone that no-one can beat them.
There will be a mass of new Conservative MPs who have no or little presence on the ground to support them.
The Tories are targeting Labour-held seats and the Liberal Democrats Tory-held ones, whilst Labour’s possible gains are probably out of reach.
CCHQ itself is also a victim of what it has helped to create. Here’s a way forward that should be acceptable to all.
Of the nine Conservative-held seats selecting tonight, we have now revealed six shortlists.
For many voters, local elections boil down to which party will provide the best possible services at the lowest possible cost.
The final part of our series this week on May’s elections. Will there be a LibDem revival – which polls have yet to indicate?
It’s still winnable, but there are warning signs for the wider Party and its leadership.
Plus: Trump’s folly, Miliband’s mess, my first West Ham game at the Olympic Stadium – and Margaret Thatcher, Queen of Game Shows.
The last of our profiles looks at a region that witnessed another Liberal Democrat extinction event and the undoing of the People’s Army.
Our whistle-stop tour heads to the South East, where the Tories and Labour are fighting it out and two minor parties have everything at stake.