THE DAY AFTER

Quite how I managed to talk about poor Clare Barnes on News 24 last night I don't know. I was given a tip by a North Norfolk friend to think of pleasant things, then you get through it. The press coverage of Clare's death has been astonishing. It's interesting that the media concentrate on the fact that she's Carol's daughter, rather than Denis's. More evidence of the media's interest in celebrity over politics? I can't help pondering over the fact that had she been the daughter of Mr & Mrs Average from Cleethorpes she would have barely rated a mention.

Today I have been at Politico's all day packing things up for our move. Last night was spent at a Conservative History Group meeting (I'm its director, before you make any snide comments....) on the Macmillan Years. We had the editor of the Macmillan Diaries Peter Catterall and Sir Peter Tapsell MP as the speakers. Peter Tapsell is a great speaker and full of hilarious anecdotes.

Tomorrow I am on LBC with Sandi Toksvig for a couple of hours. Hugely enjoy her show. It's totally spontaneous and you end up talking about the oddest subjects. Right up my street reaaly.

Great opinion polls today. I really feel we are on the verge of a major breakthrough both nationally and locally. There's an optimism in the Party I haven't experienced since the late 1980s.