The only way to win is Essex

No wonder the spin doctors chose aspirational Essex - no hack can resist an Essex pun. David Cameron and Nick Clegg's visit to the Fiat-owned New Holland tractor factory in Basildon and Ed Miliband's trip to Harlow guaranteed lots of easy headlines. The Independent's editorial ran "The Only Way Isn't Essex, Prime Minister", while the paper's Andy McSmith revealed that house prices had gone up three times faster than incomes in Essex and that youth unemployment in the county was soaring too. The Sun went with "the only way to win is Essex." On the BBC News Nick Robinson revealed that in Harlow Ed Miliband felt the Tories had "lost touch with Essex Man".

While in the Guardian it was "The only way is Essex as party leaders go in search of aspirational voters." The Guardian's Michael White compared the Basildon Q and A session in front of blue and yellow shirted geezers to "the Soviet-era of heroic five-year tractor plans". White contrasted the setting to of the Rose Garden tryst two years ago. "Where better to shake off the taint of matrimonial metaphor and renew their alliance on a more business like footing than in Basildon? No-one goes on honeymoon in Basildon. Southend perhaps, but not to the '60s new town, home patch of the legendary reality TV show The Only Way Is Essex. So Essex it was yesterday." Which is a little unfair, as you can get a room at the Premier Inn at the Festival Leisure Park for just £19 and then visit Bas Vegas. Where better to rekindle Dave and Nick's bromance?