One high-profile Lib Dem candidate who missed the cut expressed grudging respect for his party’s new found single-mindedness. “In 2010 we spread ourselves too wide. Another 1,000 votes in the right places and we’d have won five more seats,” he conceded. But he also expressed concern about a campaign that involved “Effectively fighting 50 by-elections. That has long-term consequences if you aspire to be a truly national party.” At the moment Lib Dem strategists have one aspiration: survival. The ruthlessness governing their key seat selection has been extended to all areas of their operation. “The Tories are still arguing about whether they have the right strategy,” said one MP. “Labour haven’t got a strategy. Ours fits on one side of A4 paper.”