Bristol Tories and the giggling girls

Manifesto launch day: top Tories criss-crossing the country, facing the cameras cheered on by the party faithful.

It's all very planned, and in the way of modern politics very stage-managed.

But there is one factor hard-nosed press officers cannot control: the public.

When the Shadow Health Secretary came to College Green in Bristol, it wasn't just activists and candidates who posed for the cameras.

In the front row, clutching blue Conservative balloons they'd got their hands on, were four giggling girls.

As Andrew Lansley started his speech, they struggled to stifle their laughter.

But as time - and the speech - went on, their emotions and expressions changed.

With cameras rolling there was nothing they could do but wait until for him to finish before they could, at last, make their getaway.

Conservative converts? Hmmmmm...