Peter Hoskin

The feature on political advertising in the Independent on Sunday is both a fun and insightful read.  The party political poster mock-ups (which you can cycle through here) have been put together by some of the country's leading Mad Men; so they're a fairly good indication of the themes and images that the parties might deploy come general election time. To my eyes, they also demonstrate just how difficult it is for Labour to sell themselves during this downturn, particularly once the initial flush of Brown's world-saving narrative has faded to naught.  The Tories get the pick of the posters (cf. the Laurel & Hardy one or the eye-catching 'In the red' one) precisely because they can pin blame for the recession on the government.

Thank you all for sending in your New Year's resolution suggestions for David Cameron.  We've now picked out our favourite; which comes courtesy of Robert Simpson and which, like all good New Year's resolutions, is simply phrased but also challenging and oh-so-worthwhile.  Here it is: "To resolve to produce 5 core reasons to vote Conservative which every British voter is familiar with by the next election." Congrats, Robert.  To claim your prize - a bottle of bubbly - just e-mail with your contact details on phoskin @ spectator.co.uk P.S. In case anyone's thinking that there already are 5 core reasons to vote for the Tories at the next election, think on whether "every British voter is familiar with" those reasons...

Coffee House will be going a bit quieter over the next couple of days; so just to wish CoffeeHousers a happy Christmas, and to thank you for reading and contributing over the past year. If you're looking for something to do, I'd recommend this year's Christmas short story in the magazine (here); or you could always suggest a New Year's resolution for David Cameron (here) - we'll be picking out the best on Boxing Day.

The ComRes poll in today's Independent could well be signinficant.  It puts the Tories on 39 percent (up 2); Labour on 34 percent (down 2); and the Lib Dems on 16 percent (up 2).  But it's the below-headline findings on tax and spend that really pack a punch.  Tim Montgomerie's already pulled out the key passage from the Independent article, but I'll repeat it here for the benefit of CoffeeHousers: "Asked how they would vote if the Tories committed themselves to a lower level of public spending than Labour and to try not to raise taxes – Mr Cameron's current policy – 49% said Tory, 32% Labour and 11% the Liberal Democrats.

I know, I know; all the election speculation's starting to get tiresome - if it wasn't already tiresome weeks ago.  But it's still worth noting the comments of one of Brown's closest allies, Charlie Whelan, who's suggested that June 2009 will be an "ideal opportunity" for the PM to hold an election. His thinking is that Brown will be boosted by the world economic summit being held in London in May, and which will be attended by one President Obama. Photo-ops galore, I guess.  Whelan's proximity to Brown - he's rumoured to have been attending pre-election meetings with the Brownite inner circle, as well as having coffee with Mandy - lends his thoughts extra significance.

An effective article by George Osborne in this morning's Telegraph, sticking up for savers and pensioners. It's well worth reading the whole thing, but here's the first couple of paragraphs: "Over the past year, someone with £10,000 of savings in an easy access high street account has seen their income fall from £50 a month to less than £25. Having planned for their retirement and put money aside for a rainy day, pensioners and savers are seeing their living standards fall. Those who weren't caught up in Gordon Brown's Age of Irresponsibility are being made to pay the price for it. Of course, cuts in interest rates by the Bank of England are absolutely necessary to try to restimulate the economy. That is why we called for them.

CoffeeHousers, the mission is straightforward - suggest a New Year's resolution for David Cameron in the comments section below; we'll pick out the best one on Boxing Day; and its author will win a bottle of champagne.  Good luck.