A SPECTATOR 'S NOTEBOOK
AT ground the Political Correspondent of The Observer
has for saying that (in Tory circles) " the belief now is
that there will not only be a Conservative victory, but that it will be as overwhelming as Labour's in 1945 " is hard to imagine. It is quite certain that no such opinion prevails among Conservatives in the House of Commons, whether ex-Ministers or back-benchers. It is true, of course, that Conservative prospects have improved sub- stantially in the last ten days, thanks to the diligence and efficiency with which the Government has been cutting its own throat (instead of its estimates) but even so all the Conservatives I have talked to maintain an attitude of very restrained optimism. One alone expressed the firm belief that the Conservatives would get home comfortably —and for the first time I am beginning to take that view myself. Apart from that I find no disposition to venture on rash predictions. There are, no doubt, particular seats, now held by Labour by narrow majorities, which there is every hope of regaining, and if there are enough of them the Tories will win the election. They will, of course, go into action under the leadership of Mr. Churchill—as Labour will under that of Mr. Attlee. There is no question of any- thing but that. But here too there is a change. There was an interlude when Mr. Churchill's spirit of mischief got the better of him and the weekly, or even more frequent, bickcrings with Mr. Morrison across the despatch-box on details of business caused more irritation than amusement. That no longer happens ; business is left to Mr. Eden, who, however hard he hits, never irritates. The breadth of Mr. Churchill's closing speech at the Conservative Conference and the brilliance of his more recent speech at the end of the devaluation debate in the House of Commons show that when he chooses he can still stand alone among the statesmen of today.
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