David Cameron had a little list. An important list. It contained the names of all the men and women whom he had lined up to hold office in the administration he expected to be forming last Friday morning, after the election results had come through.
The Tories were so sure that they were on the threshold that at 7pm on Thursday, three hours before the polling booths closed, one of Mr Cameron's aides rang Jeremy Heywood, the Permanent Secretary in Downing Street, and spent five minutes reading him the list. He also disclosed the names of some civil servants who were thought to be so tainted by association with Labour that Mr Cameron wanted them out.
Naturally, there were no Liberal Democrats on the list given to the astonished Mr Heywood, because the Conservatives confidently expected to march into power with a commanding majority in the House of Commons.
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