That's not what annoys me. What annoys me is when it seems that the left gives up on trying to convince the suburbs, small towns and exurbs, as it often does, suggesting that suburbanites are natural voting fodder for the right. That is why we have a Tory administration in London now - because Boris Johnson used the 'doughnut' strategy of campaigning in the suburbs while Labour's Ken Livingstone tried to rally the inner city. That is understandable, but ultimately self-defeating. All the evidence is that de-densification is the underlying trend, which no amount of smart-growth has succeeded in counter-acting. If the left gives up on the suburbs, then it gives up on winning. (Sorry to sound like Kevin Philips, but on that, if not on many other things, he had a point)