The Tories are gaining momentum with their ‘Labour-SNP pact’ message

Complain all you like about the way the Tories are campaigning at the moment, but it’s getting the message across. The party has hit on the SNP, which is fascinating the media anyway, as the best line of attack to undermine Labour. Tory candidates report being pleasantly surprised by how much cut-through the Labour-SNP message is getting, while pollsters now say members of their focus groups are raising the issue unprompted.

Focusing on the SNP may well have a number of serious side effects for the Tory party. It may reinforce the perception that they are a nasty, negative party. It may mean they do not give voters sufficient reason to back them, even if they succeed in putting them off Labour. Negative campaigning does work very well in a country like Australia which has compulsory voting, but some British voters may simply choose to stay at home. In the long term, taking up the SNP could contribute to a crisis of legitimacy of the UK government.