Any victories are a cause for celebration for the Tories after the horrors of the 1990s. But the performance of the party and its leaders during the local election campaign has produced an ambivalent response, notably from within the ranks of the centre Right itself.

The Tories are heading for a very good day in tomorrow's elections, whether or not Boris Johnson wins in London. For all the attempts to play down expectations, the party should make further gains on an already strong position and will be disappointed not to boost its national share of the vote of 40 per cent over the past two years up to 41-42 per cent. But the past month has been all about the problems and unpopularity of Gordon Brown and the Government. Apart from the Ken-Boris battle, the campaign will be remembered almost solely for the 10p tax saga, and increased worries about the economy.

David Cameron and his team have been the vocal supporting cast. They have been busy, travelling around the country, launching new initiatives, engaging in photo opportunities, etc. But their main role has been to highlight Labour's many problems. Nothing wrong in that, of course. The role of the Opposition is to exploit such weaknesses. But, while partisan assaults on Labour may enthuse and rally the faithful, the key to low turnout local elections, they may repel, rather than attract, undecided and disillusioned voters.

The spotlight has been off the Tories themselves. The Government's convolutions over 10p have let them off the hook. Apart from saying, legitimately, that they would not have got in the mess in the first place, the Tories have not had to say how they would help the losers. That partly reflects George Osborne's sensible caution. He knows that the deteriorating fiscal position would narrow the freedom of manoeuvre of any incoming Conservative government, however much the tax cutters would like him to be able to promise a big rise in thresholds.

But we are only slightly the wiser about what a Cameron government would do. Slightly, because at seminars organised by the likes of the Centre for Policy Studies and Policy Exchange, the Cameron team has begun defining a less interventionist, less centralist approach, summed up by the ugly slogan “the post-bureaucratic age”. Sounds great, but how is accountability to be assured? If I were a Conservative leader of a council group hoping to take control tomorrow, I would not bet on having that much more financial freedom from a Cameron Whitehall.

Some fresh thinking is going on: for instance, from Michael Gove on competition and choice in schools, in contrast to the policy of reassurance on health favoured by Mr Cameron and Andrew Lansley. And David Willetts, Nick Herbert and Greg Clark always have interesting things to say in their areas. There is no need to spell out detailed policies now with an election probably two years off. But it would be equally mistaken just to say “we are doing fine from Labour's problems”. The Tories are doing fine, so far.

But after a rough few days or weeks, shares in Mr Brown could revive in the summer. Mr Cameron needs to consolidate his support, and that involves convincing voters how they would benefit from a Tory government.

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