Rejoice, but not too much

Rejoice! Today's Populus poll for the Times is excellent, fabulous news. The message from the news of the last week is that the Conservatives are back. For the first time in a long, long time, the Tories look in fine fettle. Nevertheless, there is still much work to be done.

A resurgent bounce by Labour would bring us all but neck-and-neck and it only then takes a very small "stop the Tories" swing from the LDP to nose Labour ahead and end any prospects of a majority. The next four percent, to the early 40s, are the most crucial and must remain the focus of the Parliamentary Party and CCHQ. Most encouraging, however, in this regard is the bounce for the Tories from "don't knows" with Brown projected as Labour leader. Now back to work...