Nick and Dave are ready to rumble. Ed, on the other hand …

The coalition parties have governed together for more than three years now, but they remain culturally very different beasts. When the Liberal Democrats held an away day last week, it was at a conference centre in Milton Keynes — picked, in the words of one Lib Dem, ‘because there are no distractions there’. The Tories are also conducting a bonding exercise: in the Downing Street garden and the chamber of the House of Commons.

No. 10’s decision to light the barbecue and put out the bunting for Tory MPs is typical of its new-found interest in party management. It had realised that it was in danger of a vote of no confidence through neglect of its MPs, and it is now trying to correct its past errors. Cameron is dispensing patronage in the manner of a medieval monarch. MPs are being made special envoys, vice chairmen and small-business ambassadors at an indecent speed, even before the reshuffle of the government’s junior ranks due in the next few weeks.