Westminster used to think that 2012 would be the year that the ‘feel-good factor’ returned. Back in May 2010, all three parties expected the economic mood to lift. Combine that with the Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and it seemed a good bet that, come September, the country would be smiling. Labour frontbenchers feared that David Cameron would seize his chance to go to the country in search of a majority of his own.
Now even the most optimistic believe that the economy will remain in a critical condition. Yet, against the odds, Cameron remains in the ascendant. The Conservatives are polling significantly ahead of their performance in the last general election. There are still fears on the Labour side, and even among some Liberal Democrats, that Cameron will, whatever the Fixed-term Parliaments Act says, head to the country in 2012.
From a Conservative perspective, Cameron starts 2012 in his strongest position for four years.
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