Tories taking nothing for granted in Henley

David Cameron has issued a call to arms by ordering all 191 Conservative MPs as well as backroom staff at Tory HQ and party workers from further afield to descend on Henley tomorrow to rally support on polling day.

The remarkable move is not out of panic, insisted a spokesman for the party leader, but because the opposition is taking nothing for granted.

"It does not smack of panic. Our record at by-elections is not a particularly good one. Every shadow cabinet member visited Crewe and Nantwich at least three times and a huge number of MPs turned out there.

"We are not taking anything for granted. There will be a massive show on Thursday; several hundred people," he told The Herald last night.

While blind panic might not lie behind the unusual move, there is concern that John Howell, the Tory candidate, is finding it difficult to muster support as activists feel more interested in helping the fortunes of David Davis, the former Shadow Home Secretary, who is fighting a July 10 by-election in his former seat of Haltemprice and Howden in Yorkshire.

The Oxfordshire seat became vacant after Boris Johnson stood down following his victory in the London mayoral contest. His majority was 12,793.

The Tories look certain to hold the seat and are hoping that Labour, which came third three years ago, could lose its deposit.

From: The Herald