Toby Young: Join my campaign to save the country

This is going to be the year I do my Flash Gordon routine and launch a campaign to save the universe from Ming the Merciless. By which I mean some sort of alliance between the Conservatives and Ukip to prevent Miliband becoming the next prime minister.

When I first started thinking about this, my conclusion was that any formal pact was out of the question. Not only have Cameron and Farage pooh-poohed it, but the polling evidence suggests that any gains the parties made by not fighting each other would be more than offset by their losses. Some Tory voters would be alienated by a pact, as would plenty of Kippers.

However, I now think that’s unduly pessimistic. Yes, we’re unlikely to see Cameron and Farage shaking hands on the steps of Downing Street, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for local alliances. I’m thinking of a patchwork quilt of ground-level agreements between Conservative and Ukip constituency associations rather than a national pact sanctioned by the party panjandrums.