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Chris Tindall asks the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, to explain the Conservatives' transport policies.
It is the morning after the night before at the conservative Party office in Ashtead. The Surrey commuter village hasjust had its local elections and a sign on the door of the association's hut spells out its wins. The party now has seats in Ashtead Park, Ashtead Village, Brockham, Betchworth and Buckland, Brookham South, Leatherhead North and Mole Valley.
"Thank you Ashtead for supporting Chris Grayling's Team," says the sign. Grayling, as MP for this leafy constituency, is tired but happy: Ashtead has its first Tory council since 1973.
But the Shadow secretary of State for Transport does have something on his mind as we sit down in his sparsely decorated office - the recent Cabinet reshuffle.
Grayling consults his handheld computer to find out if he has a new opposite number in transport. For the moment the jungle drums are muted.hut Grayling's feeling is that anyone new can only be a good thing for the Conservatives.
Talking the talk
Labour veteran Gerald Kaufman MP once neatly defined the roles of opposition and government:"In government you wake up and say, 'What am I going to do today?'. In opposition you wake up and say:'What am I going to say today?'"
In Grayling's case, the answer to the latter would be: 'Not much'. At the moment the Conservative party is in intelligence-gathering...





