UK election will be no coronation

It would be crazy to take today's Observer poll and say that the Tories' chances of being the next government are sliding. But I am not the only one who has been questioning their supposedly unassailable lead. Seems to me that their support is a mile wide and an inch deep. They are still on track to win against a tired Labour government, but it won't take much to make a real fight of it. Some random thoughts:

-- Was it The Sun? Their attack on Gordon Brown over a hand written note to a grieving mother who lost her son in Afghanistan had a remarkable effect. It made Brown look picked on and brought to light his evident emotion about the war dead.

-- Was it Cameron? His last two appearances on The Andrew Marr Show have been horrible. He comes across as peevish and not entirely likable. Add that to the Toff image and you have problems.

-- Was it Europe? The Lisbon Treaty came into force and the sky did not fall in. EU leaders also showed how nonthreatening the whole thing is buy appointing a couple of probably competent nonentities to the top posts (see previous post)

Another poll will likely come along soon, putting the Tories back up again. But this one at least showed that the road is open for surprises and that, thank goodness, next year's election will not be a coronation.