CAN it be true the Tories are pinning their hopes on Motorway Man – a mysterious, car-happy voter living near Britain’s fastest roads – for General Election success?

And could it possibly help explain why voters in the North-East have, at least until now, stayed loyal to Labour through thick and thin?

A Conservative advisor has revealed 21 key seats where the party is confident that voters are ready to dump Gordon Brown after backing Labour at the past three polls.

All 21 constituencies boast new housing estates, which are home to sales managers and the like who spend long hours travelling around the country. And all 21 are within an easy drive of the major motorways running up and down the spine of England, the M1, the M6 and the M61 – in Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Lancashire.

An excited Rob Hayward, a former Tory MP now advising David Cameron, said: “These are a series of constituencies with a number of new-style voters who have voted Labour for the past three elections and are now moving to the Tories.

“They are inhabited by people who may be regional sales managers, reps, production managers – they need to be near a motorway to get around the country.”

Apparently, Motorway Man – or, perhaps, Welcome Break Woman – has two or three children and aspires to live in a large, detached house with a conservatory and a twocar garage. He is tough on drugs and crime.

The second car is needed for the weekend trip to the out-of-town shopping centre and to ferry the kids to their numerous afterschool activities. The house boasts multiple laptops.

A Conservative fantasy? Not according to Cabinet minister Peter Hain, who – with less enthusiasm – also detects this bit of the electoral map switching from red to blue.

Mr Hain has long lamented Labour’s lost support among those who are “often travelling”

away from their geographical and political roots. He said: “The classic thing is where your mum and dad live in a solid Labour town, but you move into one of the suburbs, a new housing estate, and you start to think a little differently about yourself.”

Furthermore, psephologists agree that traditional party allegiances have broken down, making the elusive “niche” voter the holy grail for all the parties.

Think back to 1997, when Worcester Woman, worried about her quality of life, fell in love with Tony Blair – or, before that, Essex Man’s unhealthy infatuation with Margaret Thatcher.

In the North-East, of course, voters are still waiting and yearning for a dual carriageway to Scotland, the A1 only being the A1(M) for that short stretch between Darlington and Morpeth.

Maybe Mr Cameron should order a motorway on his first day in office – and start scooping up the votes?

SOME priceless legalese at the Iraq War inquiry yesterday, as we prepare for Tony Blair’s show trial – er, I mean appearance – tomorrow.

Lord Goldsmith, the former Attorney General, agreed it was “not clear” whether Resolution 1441, in November 2002, authorised military action without a second UN decision. It was left “unspoken”. So it had not been decided, then? Oh, no! A resolution must have decided something – it was just that no one could agree what it was…