Cameron’s cavalier style has the Tory infantry feeling like
lions led by a donkey  Labour cherishes serial Tory backbench
disloyalty because it chips away at Cameron’s credentials as a
man in command.  Cameron "comes across as a bit Melchett", said
one of his MPs, referring to Stephen Fry's aristocratic general
character in "Blackadder Goes Forth". Illustration: Dan
Murrell/New Statesman  It is not most people’s idea of a race.
The competitors are either standing still or shuffling backwards
away from the finish line. Such is the state of play in David
Cameron and Ed Miliband’s pursuit of a parliamentary majority at
the next election.  The Labour leader, after a phase of
incremental advance, is stationary again. Miliband’s MPs are
getting used to his ponderous, halting rhythm but it doesn’t
make them comfortable. None believes Labour’s lead in the
opinion polls is what it could be against a divided Conservative
Party presiding over economic failure.  The source of Labour’s
greatest comfort has nothing to do w