But a small item in the 1997 accounts of Northern and Shell, Mr Desmond’s main operating company, reveals that “a £5,000 political donation was made to the Conservative party during the year”. He has never given money to the Labour Party.A spokesman for Mr Desmond said: “It was a small and routine disbursement, nothing more and nothing less It is of minimal political significance.”. A is for Ancram. As chairman of the Conservative Party, Michael Ancram will be a prominent figure in William Hague’s seemingly doomed attempt to wrest power from Tony Blair. Ancram makes his equivalent at the 1997 election, Brian Mawhinney, look charismatic by comparison.

A patrician Tory who remains good friends with Ken Clarke, he is an unlikely spear-carrier for Mr Hague, but is regarded as a safe pair of hands

A is for Ancram. As chairman of the Conservative Party, Michael Ancram will be a prominent figure in William Hague’s seemingly doomed attempt to wrest power from Tony Blair. Ancram makes his equivalent at the 1997 election, Brian Mawhinney, look charismatic by comparison. A patrician Tory who remains good friends with Ken Clarke, he is an unlikely spear-carrier for Mr Hague, but is regarded as a safe pair of hands.
B is, of course, for Tony Blair, but also for Gordon Brown, who, as chair of Labour’s morning press conferences during the campaign, will be almost as ubiquitous as the leader himself. The Chancellor, who has kept a relatively low media profile recently, will work from the Labour Party’s headquarters with Peter Mandelson (see M), even though the two men rarely spoke to each other during the campaign in 1997 and relations have not improved since.C is for Jim Callaghan. The last Labour Prime Minister to call a general election, in 1979, provides Mr Blair with a lesson he has surely learnt.

Callaghan’s mistake was not calling an early election in October 1978 He carried on in the hope that something might turn up. It did: the winter of discontent, and resounding defeat at the polls a few months later. In a rosier political context, Mr Blair will call an early election partly to avoid unpredictable events blocking a second win.D is for Deadline. Thursday 3 May is widely regarded as the likeliest election date, which means Mr Blair must announce the election by Thursday 5 April at the latest.