It's hitting us in London because there was a credible candidate for the Tories, Boris Johnson.
For the Tories, Gavin Brown also claimed that colleges had been hard done by.
Political calculation, not just ideology, argues for the Tories jealously guarding these policy briefs.
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That is hardly good news for the Tories, but it should enable them to hold Beckenham.
But that does not mean it has become easier for the Tories to win a majority.
It would take an implausibly large swing of around 8% for the Tories to form a government.
Indeed, the biggest blow for the Tories may be to their finances rather than to their votes.
Whitehall was bored with working for the Tories, who often treated officials like household servants rather than advisers.
But this happened to coincide with the beginning of a long period of electoral oblivion for the Tories.
After William Hague's first major success, the BBC's Political Editor Robin Oakley asks: Where now for the Tories?
Mr Fortier's main concern is to nurture the Quebec support for the Tories built in the Mulroney-Charest years.
For the Tories, who argued until recently that state money would be pernicious, this is a significant shift.
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For the Tories, Baroness Hanham said her party had long been convinced of the need for a high-speed network.
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As if this were not bad enough for the Tories, the electoral system has also turned sour on them.
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Oliver Letwin for the Tories tells us the government has "utterly failed" in what it set out to do.
Shadow Health Secretary Dr Liam Fox, for the Tories, roundly criticised the plans.
In London in January he apologised for the Tories having become a party that seemed to care about economics alone.
For the Tories, especially, assembly elections helped them to rebrand their party as local, for example by fielding more Welsh-speaking candidates.
And, it must be said, this is fertile and traditional turf for the Tories, once the unchallenged party of law and order.
The forthcoming debate could be used as "a launching pad for the Tories' fresh attempt at turning back the clocks", she warned.
So when the economy turns down, the public finances will lurch into deficit, just as they did for the Tories a decade ago.
As for the Tories, it is far too soon to say whether young master Hague will or will not prove a good leader.
Chris Patten helped to win the election for the Tories, but lost his own seat in Bath to the Liberal Democrats in the process.
This time around there is much less scope for the Tories to claw their way back to power by the strength of ideas alone.
Schools are particularly important for the Tories, who are trying to reposition themselves as the party of social justice and champions of the neediest.
For the Tories, its shadow deputy commons leader Shailesh Vara welcomed the move as an opportunity to secure a "genuine step change in representation".
Sir James Dyson, an entrepreneur and author of a report for the Tories on Britain's exporting future, urges more tax breaks for research-intensive high-tech start-ups.
Tony Blair, meanwhile, is clearly eager to neutralise the row for the election campaign, also fearing it could prove a vote winner for the Tories.
These are hard questions and for the Tories, swamped by Labour's huge majority, raising them offers an alluring combination of populist appeal and moral high-ground.
But Lord Dixon-Smith, for the Tories, said the bill was "flawed".
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