Tory tactics make this a rip-roaring election for the phrase

Conservative strategy seems to involve throwing a range of negative things at the wall each week and seeing what sticks

On Monday, a senior Tory said the party’s current campaign was “the worst in my lifetime”. Which, unless that senior Tory is under seven years old, really means something – because it takes in Theresa May’s Darwin award-winning effort in 2017. One thing on which Labour and the Conservatives might agree is that this has been a deliberately and relentlessly negative Tory campaign, with the overwhelming majority of messaging and campaign ads targeted as attack lines.

And with that, a warm welcome back to Sir Sleepy! Sir Sleepy made his debut back in May, shortly after the election had been called, when an anonymous Tory aide suggested Keir Starmer lacked the stamina to campaign. Like many, I assumed Sir Sleepy would be the first in a family of seven attack lines which would also include Sir Dopey, Sir Grumpy, Sir Bashful, Sir Sneezy, Sir Happy and Sir Doc. Yet, somewhat ironically, the Sir Sleepy attack line then lay dormant after failing to take, being rudely reawakened only on Monday night in response to Starmer saying Friday night dinner was dedicated family time.