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Spent most of yesterday listening to Cornwall's grassroots Liberal Democrats. In the morning they were distraught. By lunchtime they were cautiously optimistic. By the evening they were deliriously celebrating the fantastic success of negotiations which had propelled their party to power (sort of.)

Some Lib Dem members of Cornwall Council, who might have been expected to quit in protest, now tell me they will swallow hard and stay put.

When I asked these Lib Dems if they were happy to see their leaders dump keynote policies on a mansion tax, immigration, Trident, Europe (contd p 94) they just shrugged and said there was no alternative. Asked if the Lib Dems had moved from being a Centre-Left party to becoming a Centre-Right party, most said they hoped not and suggested such labels were simply outdated.

At the same time I had several calls from Labour and Mebyon Kernow supporters who loaned their votes to the Lib Dems last week and now want them back. They claim the change in the Lib Dems' position came about simply because we have now had a Downing Street photo opportunity for Nick Clegg to stand next to the Prime Minister.

The Labour/MK voters said they weren't sure if the photo-op looked more like Ant & Dec or just another Old Etonian and his fag. They also thought that having Vince "Britain needs savage cuts" Cable as ADC to George Osborne would rapidly prove to be a disaster.

Battle lines are being drawn. The realignment of the Right happened in front of our very eyes, live on television. The realignment of the Left will be slower and I have no idea what it will look like when, or if, it is complete.