Over the past few days – before the slow-motion resignation of Gordon Brown – it was all smiles and expressions of mutual respect between the top-level negotiating teams of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. Below the salt, however, all has not been sweetness and light.
The letters columns are full of outrage from Liberal Democrat voters at the prospect of their party's leadership doing a deal with the Conservatives. Meanwhile, Conservative Party workers are finding it hard to hide their fury at the idea of their party sharing power with the Lib Dems. Such feelings run highest in the south-west of England, where battles between the two parties' teams of voluntary supporters have long been characterised by an intensity that has not stopped short of violent abuse.
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