20 MARCH 1964, Page 11

Galloping Fever Two weeks ago, so a respected rival journal

assures us, the Labour Party in Parliament faced grimly up to the prospect that their long lead in the poll charts had disappeared. Ashen-faced they murmured in unison. 'we have lost the initiative.' Stock markets bounced. Then the next poll appeared. For the Socialists it seemed after all to have been a bad dream. We are asked to believe that for no particular reason the crude poll read- ing jumped up and down like a y&yo. With re- spect I don't. There is a fever in this chart, but it is bard,to find it mirrored in the country. Perhaps the safest advice to offer as the flat racing season Opens is that trial Gallups are often a poor guide to racecourse performance.