William Hague has denied newspaper reports that the Conservatives are about to "lurch to the right" in an attempt to prevent the opinion poll gap with Labour narrowing further.
However, Mr Hague has suggested that immigration is one of the biggest issues on the streets of West Yorkshire, where the Tories need to win a number of crucial swing seats to stand any chance of getting back into power.
The Shadow Foreign Secretary told the Politics Show in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire there was widespread support for his party's policy of limiting the number of migrants from non-EU countries.
If there is a debate raging inside the Conservative Party about a last minute change to its "direction of travel" ahead of the general election, then David Cameron's strategists will be well aware that in 2001 Mr Hague led the party to a disastrous defeat almost on the same scale of 1997 with a traditional "right wing" agenda.
For many people, they conjure up an image from a bygone age of skinheads, boots and union jacks.
But if you thought the National Front was a relic of the 1970s, then think again.
The National Front claims to be alive and kicking here in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, with a membership list said to be increasing due largely to the rival British National Party abandoning its policy of preventing people from ethnic minority backgrounds joining the BNP.
One expert has told the Politics Show that the BNP has reached its "Clause 4 moment".
Dr Matthew Goodwin's claim will raise a few eyebrows, but the point he is making is that Nick Griffin's party has had to modernise to appeal to mainstream voters in the same way Tony Blair and Co. rebranded New Labour.
The true test will no doubt come at the general election when we discover whether the BNP and National Front will pick up votes from the larger parties.
Environmental campaigners are accusing a UKIP MEP of "glorifying terrorism" after he praised the French sinking of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in 1985.
Godfrey Bloom's comments were made at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and recently added to his You Tube channel "Goddersvision".
Mr Bloom, a self-styled climate change sceptic, is seen alongside the current Greenpeace flagship - Rainbow Warrior II - commenting: "I don't often say anything good about the French, but well done for sinking one of these ships. Vive La France".
The New Zealand bombing of the ship by the French Secret Service claimed the life of Portuguese-born photographer Fernando Pereira.
A group called the East Riding Alliance for Climate Action says it's taking legal advice on whether Mr Bloom's comments are in breach of the Terrorism Act 2006.
I'm Tim Iredale, the BBC's Political Editor in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and presenter of the regional Politics Show. This is strictly a "no-spin" zone where the political viewpoint is more Humber Bridge than Westminster Bridge. Your comments and observations are more than welcome. 
