basically eight points ahead by a1 to 33. all of those numbers, all of those numbers are much worse than their position at the back end of last october when the conservatives around 39%. still four points ahead of labour, and that is the last moment before the question of the asset ethics and probity of the prime minister became central to our domestic debate. it started with the on patterson affair, perhaps now much forgotten, but you remember he tried to rescue the career of an mp who is argued by the privilege committee who had broken the rules on lobbying and then party gait kicked in both before and again after christmas and the damage to the conservatives electoral position andindeed the conservatives electoral position and indeed to the prime minister s on personal popularity has long then not consistent, and it s not as though it we had a great reaction last week. the truth is it s been a pretty persistent reaction, much of