Best of the worst

When the plot to topple Brown earlier this year kicked off Labour MP Paul Farrelly was one who said he thought the PM should step aside.

Today he explained:

“I said earlier in the year after the local elections that if Gordon didn’t improve his game then it would be right for him to stand down and for someone else to lead the party to the election.

“The reality now is that he will still be the Prime Minister come an election and whatever my concerns about him, I’d rather have a Labour Prime Minister than David Cameron and his club.”

Hardly a ringing endorsement.

The "be scared of the Tories" strategy is working less and less these days though in Farrelly's Labour heartland it may still hold sway.

What's more likely to happen in those kinds of places is that votes are lost to the likes of the BNP and UKIP.