Although Mr Hague and some of his advisers hope the election will be postponed due to the foot and mouth crisis, a later election could be even worse for the Tories, said the source, adding that they “need to get it over with and get over the misery”.Yellow M, based in Scotland, has put together a bold battle plan to try to counter people’s lack of faith in the Conservatives and hit Labour with negative images of the Government. Another idea is to bombard the London Marathon route with posters from 16 to 30 April, at a cost of about £25,000. It was even suggested that “Seb could run round and do a site visit”, a reference to Mr Hague’s adviser, the gold medal-winning runner Sebastian, now Lord, Coe.Areas of attack centre on slogans including: “The Conservative Party is changing”; “Labour isn’t listening”; “Labour is all mouth and no delivery”; “A Lib Dem vote is a wasted vote”. The agency’s proposals say tax policy will be used as a “major dividing line” between Labour and the Tories. Ads will aim to “remove the stigma that wanting less tax is a selfish stance” and “infer [sic] that Labour ‘over’-tax us”.Internal Labour Party polls have confirmed that its lead is built on support for its handling of the economy, memories of the last Tory government and Mr Hague’s leadership style “Every time we mention Hague, people just turn off. He comes across as a wally,” said a Labour campaign source.Yesterday Labour unveiled its own poster campaign, depicting the shadow Chancellor, Michael Portillo, as “Mr Boom” and Mr Hague as “Mr Bust”.Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, said: “Our own polling shows that people who didn’t support us in 1997 will support us now because of our record on handling the economy.”In what could be a further blow to Mr Hague this week, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Elizabeth Filkin, will open an inquiry into his charitable trust..

Tony Blair plans to promote a new generation of women MPs after the general election, following complaints that male ministers have taken credit for their work on shaping government policy. Tony Blair plans to promote a new generation of women MPs after the general election, following complaints that male ministers have taken credit for their work on shaping government policy.
The Prime Minister, who has been criticised for failing to reward talented women, is now keen to bring more into ministerial ranks. Among those tipped to join the Government for the first time are Ruth Kelly, the parliamentary aide to the agriculture minister, Nick Brown, who worked closely with ministers in advance of this month’s Budget and has impressed both the Chancellor and Mr Blair.Lorna Fitzsimons, chair of Labour’s backbench women’s committee, has been lobbying on behalf of the women’s agenda. Fiona Mactaggart, the MP for Slough, has worked behind the scenes on issues affecting female refugees and asylum seekers.

Others tipped for promotion are Oona King, the MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, and Watford MP Claire Ward, who last week heaped further trouble on the embattled Europe minister, Keith Vaz, with her criticism of his response to an internal Labour Party inquiry into his behaviour.Existing ministers such as Tessa Jowell, the minister for women, Margaret Hodge, the equal opportunities minister, Barbara Roche, the Home Office minister, and Yvette Cooper, the public health minister, are also expected to continue their rise up the ranks. Many MPs also believe that the next reshuffle could see a return to the front line for Harriet Harman, the former social security secretary.Women’s campaign groups have been fiercely critical of claims that the 101 female Labour MPs elected in 1997, derided by some as “Blair’s Babes”, have failed to make a difference. However, a government source said Mr Blair now believed it was right that their efforts should be recognised. “Tony knows it’s important for the image of the Government and its effectiveness to get them in,” the source said.Mary Ann Stephenson, of the Fawcett Society, said: “I think it’s great.

This ‘Blair Babe’ myth has been allowed to obscure the work the women have done. The Budget was a real sign that the women MPs had made a difference.”There has been some frustration among female MPs and ministers that their efforts have not been properly recognised. The structure of the women’s unit has meant that policies sponsored by women have been announced by the relevant department, usually headed by a man.However, there remains significant concern that the numbers of women in Parliament will fall after the next election. This led the Equal Opportunities Commission’s chairwoman, Julie Mellor, to call last week for positive discrimination in the selection of candidates to be legalised. Labour has selected only 142 women candidates for the 614 seats The Tories have picked 89 and the Liberal Democrats 93..