Not much sooner had I asked about the whereabouts of Kenneth Clarke in the Tory campaign yesterday — especially given his unique appeal to non-Tory and liberal voters — than he pops up at a press conference just now alongside George Osborne.
Osborne looked a tiny bit uncomfortable as Clarke said “I like Nick Clegg” and that he agreed with “70 per cent” of the analysis of Vince Cable.
But overall, Clarke — who ridiculed Clegg for straying into the “wastelands” of Lib Dem politics — made it clear he does not want a hung parliament or a Tory-Liberal coalition.
If this liberal-minded, pro-European Tory doesn’t want that, then it is hard to think of a Tory who would, and the likelihood of it actually happening remains pretty much pie in the sky.