As diligent students of British politics understand, most votes under our first past the post system make no real difference to the result of a general election. The ones that count are those cast by swing voters in marginal constituencies. The Conservatives have been confident in their assertions that, despite a narrowing gap in nationwide opinion surveys, their lead among these defining voters in the marginals is big enough to make the crucial difference. A carefully targeted poll in this morning's Times suggests their confidence may be misplaced.
There is a glimmer of hope this morning for budding investigative hacks depressed by declining editorial budgets and the rising tide of churnalism. Following the launch in the USA of dedicated investigations funds at ProPublica and the Huffington Post, four journalists, Stephen Grey, Phillip Knightley (author of The First Casualty), Misha Glenny (former BBC Balkans Corr) and David Leigh have set up a UK based version. Called simply the Investigations Fund it has received a first contribution from the Telegraph group.
