Even UKIP outspent the Tories in Oldham East and Saddleworth

The spending figures from the Oldham East and Saddleworth campaign have been released tonight and they show just how much the Tories soft-pedaled their campaign there. The numbers, which Michael Crick has blogged on, reveal that the Tories spent less than half what their coalition partners spent in the content, £39,432 to £94,540. Labour, who held the seat, expended the most, £97,085. Indeed, even the UKIP campaign was more expensive than the Tory one.

These figures show just how absurd it was for the Tories to claim that they were fighting a normal, style by-election campaign. There was clearly a deliberate decision to go easy in the seat to give the Liberal Democrat candidate the best chance possible. Those, like Baroness Warsi, who hotly denied this charge look rather silly this evening.