People vs papers: Brown and co have a point

The Labour Cabinet's new mantra that "it's people who decide elections, not newspapers" was, of course, a handy answer to the Sun newspaper's decision to desert New Labour and endorse David Cameron's party in the upcoming general election. But there's some truth in it.

The YouGov poll issued yesterday, showing the Tory lead over Labour cut to only seven points (Tories 37 per cent, Labour 30 per cent, Lib Dems 21 per cent), is a reminder that the public will listen when a party gets the chance to put forward its ideas and policies.

In other words, Brown's package of new policies, from improved childcare to the anti-social behaviour crackdown, coupled with the big conference week message - that the measures taken to tackle the recession are gradually paying dividends - was getting through.

And in marked contrast to the media commentators who were generally underwhelmed by Brown's keynote speech - partly because it could never live up to Mandy's barnstormer the previous day - the public, it transpires, were quite impressed.

A Sky News/YouGov instant poll conducted within hours of Brown's performance on Tuesday afternoon showed 63 per cent thought the speech was excellent or good, while only 15 per cent said it was poor or bad.

That's the good news for Labour. The bad news is that David Cameron and his crew will get the chance at their conference in Manchester, starting this weekend, to deliver the Tory message - and the public will listen to that too.

A Tory lead cut to only seven per cent is a great morale booster for Labour's troops as they leave Brighton later today. It makes a hung parliament, with Labour hanging onto power with the tacit support of the Lib Dems, a possibility.

But just as Brown got his bounce this week, Cameron will get his next week. The first opinion polls worth reading will be those conducted when conference season is over and the MPs are back in Westminster.