Britain's new Labour prime minister was duly feted at his European Union debut on May 23rd, in a Dutch coastal resort, by colleagues who had grown tired of the relentless nay-saying of his Tory predecessor, John Major.
The consensus was made nearly absolute when David Trimble - discussing whether Tory candidates should stand against his party in Northern Ireland - reminded the audience that they had once been close links between the Ulster Unionists and the Tories.
"His record is the Tory record - one of failure - and it is on this he'll be judged at the election, " she added.
The Wales Office minister David Jones - the only Welsh Tory currently a departmental minister - will see his Clwyd West seat dismembered.
West Mercia Police Federation chairman Ken Mackaill - one of three representatives who met the Tory MP for 45 minutes in his Sutton Coldfield constituency office - said Mr Mitchell had "no option but to resign" after refusing to give details of exactly what he said in his outburst.
In sometimes emotional evidence from the witness box, he told how he had battled racism in his political career - he had been an unsuccessful Tory candidate in Cheltenham at the 1992 general election - and claimed he was in public life to "help people" and not for the money.
Pro-European Tory backbencher Ian Taylor said his party had campaigned on the "wrong strategy".
Hence the undignified competition between Mr Straw and Ann Widdecombe, his Tory shadow, to appear more mean-spirited than the other.
Once William Hague took over the Tory reins, she eagerly embraced his anti-euro currency stance and regularly ensured she had her say at party conferences and during the 2001 general election campaign.
Braintree Tory MP Brooks Newmark stressed his Welsh credentials - "my family had a steel business in Wales" - before raising concerns about borrowing powers "I'm concerned that ultimately UK plc will foot the bill if things go wrong".
Tory peer Lord Tebbit - not known for mincing his words - was even more scathing.
He's ok, one Tory MP told me some months ago - but his public persona?
But his well-financed and organised campaign is bound to attract some wavering Tory voters.
Despite the tough rhetoric, the chancellor has taken a calculated risk in what his Tory opposite number, George Osborne, dubbed a pre-election report.
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The Tory leader, David Cameron, even gave his set-piece speech on October 1st from a lectern, calculating that his usual gambit of roaming the stage without notes would be inappropriately showy.
He was an adviser to Anthony Eden during the 1955 election - fought a year before the Tory prime minister made his stand against what he saw as appeasement, triggering the Suez crisis.
Tory candidate Steve Norris cast his vote in Battersea, south-west London, with Liberal Democrat Susan Kramer voting in Barnes, west London.
On one of his recent weekly phone-in shows, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg assured Tory MP Zac Goldsmith, a strong supporter of recall, that he wanted "recall provisions on the statute book in this parliament".
So, his message to Tory tax cutters and Lib Dem infrastructure spenders is the same - only if it can be done within our existing plan.
His future was the source of speculation during this week's Tory conference - which he chose not to attend - with ministers repeatedly asked about the incident.
Still, there has always been enough of a Tory radical about Mr Major to prevent his administration becoming a no-change government, a trait illustrated by its breathtaking decision this month to propose the privatisation of the basic state pension.
Mr Howard will make his speech during a visit to support Tory Parliamentary hopefuls Robert Light and Sayeeda Warsi - "the first British Muslim woman" selected to run for MP as a Conservative candidate.
BBC: NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Howard pitches for UK ethnic vote
His calculation is that ordinary voters will warm to his anti-business rhetoric, while company executives will focus on the fact that the Tory leader hopes to rely on moral persuasion to enforce good corporate behaviour rather than on new laws.
Monmouth Tory David Davies shook his head to make clear his opposition to the re-branding idea.
Ex-Tory Mr Hayes, a former chairman of Hampshire Police Authority, insisted his plans would make police response times quicker.
Outside London, polling stations will be open for the Romsey by-election caused by the death of Tory MP Michael Colvin in a fire at his home.
The ex-Tory leader used immigration as a core campaign theme at the last election but said his defeat had been caused by continued public faith in Labour.
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Mr Woodward's father-in-law, former Tory MP and minister Sir Timothy Sainsbury, issued a statement expressing his regret at the MP's decision to leave the party, but sympathising with his views on Europe.
Labour made the boldest move - with Ed Miliband's snatching of the old Tory slogan of One Nation and his claim to be the only leader capable of holding the country together as it confronted its problems.
One of his team blamed Tory and Labour MPs for spinning out their speeches, and hinted darkly at a cross-party conspiracy to spoil the launch.
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