Election '97 : Blair nibbles baby ... baby bites back

Tony Blair indulges in the timeworn political custom of indulging infants (above) yesterday during a campaign swing through Crawley, West Sussex.

James Austin, all of nine months old, was deeply underwhelmed and showed his lack of appreciation minutes later by making a meal of a Labour election leaflet

Mr Blair said: " The sun's out, in a couple of weeks the Tories will be out," thus echoing Neil Kinnock's over-optimistic words on polling day 1992 when he said "The sun is out, and so are the Tories".

Photograph: James Dempsey/PA