In Teignbridge, Lib Dem Richard Younger-Ross is attacking Conservative Stanley Johnson for having gone to Oxford University.  One wonders how many Liberal Democrat Members past and present have gone to Oxbridge.

In North Devon, Lib Dem Nick Harvey is reminding voters of Conservative Orlando Fraser's remarks about local women. This is something that Orlando has worked hard to overcome over the last few months, but if you are Nick then anything is grist to the mill.

Back to Geoffrey. If he is 'controversial' for being a successful barrister with a track record of skilfully defending his clients, how do the Lib Dems feel about their Party President, Simon Hughes? A Cambridge man, he is a successful barrister and should Charlie be decapitated, a leadership contender?

We could begin to name other Lib Dem barristers who have practiced alongside Geoffrey Cox

Our election literature can viewed in paperless form here

This is another crucial time when people weigh up their choices and examine what is on offer.

Both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have gone for addressed, as opposed to unaddressed mailings. The other parties have not bothered to address their literature.

In addition, both the Lib Dems and Conservatives have included personalised direct letters from the candidates. In the case of the Lib Dems there appears to be a 'catch-all' letter, whilst we Conservatives have targetted more specific groups using our 'Voter Vault' system. It is not 100% foolproof, but gives a good steer as to who is likely to support and what age they are.

One difference between the Lib Dems and Conservative letterwriting is the style of salutation. It is impossible to determine whether women are married, single, widowed or in a partnership. How to address them. Mrs, Miss or 'Ms'?

Being politically correct, the Lib Dems appear to go for 'Ms', upsetting quite a few ladies who have little truck with feminism or the likes of Germaine Greer. How many ladies have the Lib Dems upset like this? Torridge and West Devon is not quite like Islington...

By contrast the Conservatives usually use traditional titles, preferring for instance 'Chairman' rather than 'Chair' or 'Chairperson', taking the risk of offending the politically correct types. So we take the risk of addressing a single woman as 'Mrs'. It usually causes less offence.

Finally, please spare a thought for the poor Post man and woman who has to hump this stuff round. He or she doesn't get paid any more, and the extra weight in his or her bag cannot be doing his or her back any good. They are the humble servants of democracy.

To that end, athough they may be a public service and useful civic occasion, they have little campaigning utility for the politicians, who could easily doorstep or telephone more voters in the time the meeting takes.

That is a bit beside the point though. What these meetings do make plain is that not all politicians and parties are the same. Watching the five candidates perform is actually quite good theatre. Peter Christie, the Green candidate is a highly credible representative and advocate for his party, much to the irritation of the Liberal Democrats. Conservative Geoffrey Cox, used to performing in front of juries and being an inquisitor after the truth has pinned down the wriggling Lib Dem on more than one occasion. Rebecca Richards, the Labour candidate is a novice, but passionate in her beliefs. She deserves praise for the courage it takes to stand up for the Labour government in Torridge and West Devon, particularly in a hall full of hunt supporters.

It is difficult to say whether one candidate has emerged victorious overall, as they are all so different. These are not Presidential debates and each candidate will appeal to a different taste. Geoffrey Cox was clearly the best briefed and most able debater, though the UKIP candidate was not deficient. Coming from London, the Liberal Democrat candidate was probably too 'political' in his answers and needs to calm down. At times he appeared to be animated,  like a puppet from Gerry Andersons 'Thunderbirds' series, perhaps Lady Penelope's butler Parker?

In any case, theses debates add to the colour of the local campaign and are free. You cannot complain.

For this strategy to work however it has to be seen as plausible to start with. The electorate must have it in mind to do in the Conservatives, or it all ends in tears and disgrace for the Lib Dems.

Now it seems a similar approach  may be tried here in Torridge and West Devon. The line against Geoffrey Cox goes something like this: He's a fat cat barrister who would only be a part time MP. He's controversial.

Well Geoffrey is a highly respected and successful QC who has the skills and track record of success to earn considerably more than the average person. So does that make him unfit to be an MP?

Back to the Lib Dem strategy. Here are a couple of examples of how it often fails, or backfires:

In Tiverton & Honiton the Lib Dems attacked Angela Browning for being a hard right extremist. They used a disgruntled former Agent to bear witness to this and endorse their candidate, Jim Barnard. Rather than rallying people to the Lib Dems it had the opposite effect. The Conservatives turned out to vote and Angela's majority more than tripled. Angela simply is not and does not appear to be some goose stepping Nazi. Mr Barnard collapsed at the count when he saw what was happening and was carried away in an ambulance. 

In West Dorset Oliver Letwin was branded a 'city banker' in terms that smacked of anti-semitism. Given Oliver's friendly image around his constituency the Lib Dem message simply didn't ring true, so despite other problems in that campaign, he hung on. Simon Green, the Lib Dem candidate in that election is not contesting this one.

Many other Conservative candidates suffer this last week personal attack. It seems the Lib Dems use these attacks to rally the anti-Tory vote to their side. But the method itself demonstates the sheer hypocrisy and underhandedness of their methods. All the posturing and chatter about being positive and decent is simply the prelude to the main event, a descent into the gutter.

The strategy also carries a high price for failure - political oblivion for the Lib Dem candidate who fails to carry off the trick.

Labour's lead in the polls at this point in the last General Election was in double digits. Now it is largely within the margin of error. That alone indicates a major swing away from Labour.

Then consider this:

Labour's share of the vote in the 2001 General Election was at the lowest end of its poll ratings over the course of that campaign.

The Conservative's share of the vote was at the highest end of its poll ratings over the course of that campaign.

Liberal Democrats similarly polled close to the top of their ratings.

On the basis of what happened in reality last time and what the polls say this time, that puts the Conservatives and Labour neck and neck in poll ratings at 36% with the Lib Dems on about 21%. The last two weeks of an election are the time when the polls usually narrow. So far as Labour is concerned, things can only get worse.

The poll figures given above represent a swing of at least 4% from Conservative to Labour. Not enough to win given Labour's massive majority and the regional variations that a national poll conceals, but a swing that would give Labour an almighty bloody nose at the very least.

Local Lib Dems will of course be quite chirpy about their party's enhanced standings nationally. They think disillusioned Labour voters are going to swing to them and so stave off the Tory advance. This is partly wishful thinking, but it is a prospect. It does however discount the 'personal vote' factor that incumbency carries, which cannot effectively be passed on. Similarly differential turnout and postal votes do not favour the Lib Dems. But that does not mean local Conservatives can be complacent.

Local Lib Dems will also be hoping the Conservative rise will be blunted by votes for the UKIP. But the only poll for Devon & Cornwall does not point to significant advances for UKIP. UKIP may also take votes from the Lib Dems and Labour.

So, are we all set fair for a Conservative gain in Torridge and West Devon? Only time can truly tell. One thing is clear though, there is only one way to stop Blair - vote Conservative. Conservative Government still cannot be dismissed, and it is only through gaining seats like Torridge and West Devon that we can avoid four more years of Blair.

This public meeting was well attended, good humoured and generally constructive event. It was encouraging to see a hall full of people genuinely interested in what all politicians had to say, and to listen to the diversity of views on offer.

Despite the unremitting stream of cynicism from journalists about politics and politicians (which was the underlying topic of a question about trust and leadership) it seems that many people are at least interested in hearing what politicicans have to say. They most definitely are not all the same. Thank God!

Election addresses are beginning to drop through letterboxes. In a sign of concern for their chances of winning, the Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy is also writing widely to Torridge and West Devon electors, telling them how he is looking forward to the birth of his child. Sarah obviously hadn't taken notice of Chris Rennard's campaign timetable, or he was too busy to notice she had given birth. Anyway, the letter is another amusing Kennedy/Lib Dem blunder. 

Liberal Democrat election literature is often a bit of a puzzle - the latest election address from David Walter is badly designed, poorly printed and looks quite amateur - or should that be 'shamateur'? Do the Lib Dems genuinely think that people regard them as nice group of local people who are well intentioned if a little amateur in their efforts? It's all a bit too clever by half.

Back to Postal votes - it is important to bear a couple of things in mind:

a) return them early - posting the dayt before polling day may mean they don't get there in time.

b) you can deliver them in person to the polling station on election day - or get someone else to do it for you.

So, for homeowners it's a straight choice between Labour and Conservatives.

With Labour you'll get:

a) Council Tax rebanding leading to a massive Council Tax hike. Note that expert David Thresher of the London School of Economics has said that rebanding will hit the South West hardest, as house price rises here have been quite steep.

b) Council Tax hikes - that are a cotinuation of the stealth tax to fill Labour's £8 billion black hole

c) Lower threshold for Stamp Duty, meaning most first time buyers will have to save upwards of £1,000 for the privledge of buying a home

d) Pensioner over 65 will get a one-off £200 in their Council Tax bills.

With the Conservatives you'll get:

a) No rebanding, and an end to the sort of red tape and targets that Gordon Brown loves but sends Council Tax rocketing.

b) An increase in the Stamp Duty threshold to £250,000. Great news for first many homebuyers.

c) Pensioners will get up to £500 off their Council tax bills, with no means testing.

This deal ends May 6th - get it now. Vote Conservative.

Nevertheless, this was the place that Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy chose to visit today as part of his national tour. He made some proposals about health and speedier diagnosis, as if the Lib Dems have anything to bring to the feast regarding the NHS, other than to lie about Conservative proposals alleging we will charge for operations. This campaigning style is not only negative, but highly deceiptful.

Back to Okehampton Hospital. The new hospital is a bit of a curate's egg. Yes, it's new, and quite well equipped for its size. It probably made for a good photo backdrop for the Kennedy message. But scratch the surface and Okehampton's health services are not getting any better, and it's a good example of just how effective the Lib Dems actually are when it comes to fighting for local services.

a) Out of hours doctor services are being restricted. The area covered by individual GPs is being enlarged, so it may be that a doctor from Exeter has to respond to a call from Okehampton, instead of a local GP. Either that or its a nurse on the end of the line from NHS Direct. Hardly satisfactory.

b) Ambulance cover is similarly being restricted. Don't have a heart attack in Okehampton in the early hours of the morning, as there may not be an ambulance to get you to a hospital any time soon if new proposals go through.

c) GPs services are stretched. Okehampton Medical Centre, the main GP practice in the town is far too busy, and for the size of the town Okehampton really needs another four or five GPs.

A new two man GP practice, was established around the same time as the new hospital opened. The blundering Mid Devon Primary Care Trust failed (or chose) not to make provision to accommodate the new GP practice at the Hospital, even though the trust was building another hospital in Tiverton at the same time which does have a new fully accommodated GP practice.

The consequence of this was that the PCT was forced to make a planning application to erect three Portacabins in the grounds of the new hospital, to provide extra accomodation on a site that had just been opened. The application was opposed, as if it had been granted, the temporary solution may well have become permanent. The PCT has been forced to go back to the drawing board to come up with a permanent solution, not by the local MP, but by local Conservative Councillors opposing its 'temporary' plans.

The cherry on the cake is that Okehampton is designated to be enlarged by an extra 800 houses over the next decade on top of the substantial growth which has left not only the GP's surgery but the Primary school bursting. Okehampton's population may grow by up to a third.

And who was the local MP at the time all this was happening? Liberal Democrat John Burnett.  The same man who's most memorable quote in the House of Commons was 'let me make my position absolutely clear, I shall probably have to abstain.'

The supporters of the 'Peace' candidate got decidedly hostile. 

A local Lib Dem West Devon Borough Councillor and  several Lib Dem party activists appear to have attempted to use physical force to move  Conservative activists away. A Conservative activist was forced down and a pocket on his jacket torn off.

All this was witnessed by the media following the Kennedy tour and many local people. The aftermath was filmed by Channel 4 News. A picture appeared in the Western Morning News of the Liberal Democrat Agent thrusting a corrogated plastic poster into the face of a Conservative activist.

It should be made absolutely clear that the local Conservatives were under strict orders not to provoke the Lib Dems.  They were in full compliance at the time of the incident. The only reason for the Conservative presence was to demonstrate a strong Conservative presence in the constituency to the media, NOT to steal any camera shots or disrupt the Kennedy visit. The Lib Dems managed to do that all by themselves by such an aggressive over-reaction.

Statements to the Police have been made and charges against a Liberal Democrat may follow. It is also possible that a complaint to the Standards Board may be pursued, which might result in the Lib Dem Councillor being disqualified from being a Councillor and so causing a by-election. Similar incidents of aggression elsewhere have had such outcomes. This was definitely conduct unbecoming witnessed by a great many people.

The whole incident may be viewed as  a storm in a teacup. But it was a rather unedifying spectacle and an own goal for the Lib Dems, who lost a day's national campaign story to the actions of their voluntary workers in the constituency of the former Lib Dem Communications Director.

All this contradictory polling information has a familiar feel. Similar gyrations were taking place in 1992.

Sampling methods may account for some these problems. The telephone is becoming a more and more unreliable method of obtaining information. The alternatives are face to face or the the internet. Both have similar limitations - obtaining a truly random sample is well nigh impossible and the pollsters know it. What's more, their attempts to compensate by weighting information is at best informed guesswork, hardly scientific.

With two weeks to go, there is still plenty of time for almost anything to happen, and with the volatility of the electorate, the large number of postal voters and worries about voter apathy there is no room for complacency.

Parties that win an election usually get the nasty decisions that they want or have to take as soon after the election as possible, hoping or banking on faded memories by the time the next poll comes along.

The axe has been hovering over rural POs for some time, so Postwatch's concerns are highly plausible.

How can such cuts be avoided? Voting Lib Dem will simply result in Labour government. No doubt the Lib Dems already have their petitions to save rural POs designed, but they know full well that they cannot defend rural services against Labour's contempt for the countryside.

Only a vote for the Conservatives, who can form an alternative government, offers the prospect of reprieve for these much needed rural services.

Whilst the evening itself was entertaining and quite topical, the fundamental reason why the election is being held - to form a government - could not be addressed simply because the current party of government (until 6th May), Labour, was not represented.

It was also sad to see the Greens absent. We understand that the Green candidate is unwell, and hope he will attend future meetings.

We do question the whole purpose of these cross party meetings if Labour cannot or will not attend. Voters who attend should be able to weigh up all views rather than be left to fill in the gaps for themselves.

So what ROI are we getting from the 66 tax rises since New Labour came to power? Bear in mind that this is a question not just about quantity, but quality as well. Labour may have 'invested' on public services, but has it done so in the way that best serves the people?

As we are Conservatives we obviously believe not. That was the whole point of the independent  James Report, the result of the enquiry the Conservatives set up to investigate the scale of waste in Government and identify potential savings. It was also on Labour's mind with the Gershon report, but for different reasons.

These reports enrich economists and management consultants.  Much of what they say is just plain common sense. However they do take independent judgments about issues that the Government may prefer are obscured.

All this tends to be highly technical, confusing and plain boring, but it is important. It's your money being spent, with your single vote as your only way of expressing how you would like things done. It's your public services, delivered with the choice or lack of choice as determined by the bureaucrats and politicians.

Are you happy with the standard of government services like police, health and education that you and yours receive? Was it worth the extra money?

So has Labour delivered ROI? We say no, and the independent James Reports backs us up.  After eight years of government there is nowhere to run or hide for the Labour Government. This time they are accountable.

It's up to you to decide if they deserve another term of power and the chance to take more decisions about how your money is spent and what you get in return.

Judge Labour on its record.