And as a matter of presentation, co-operating more with the Democrats could allow the prime minister to escape from a trap: on the one hand, voters see him as arrogant, but on the other they threaten to turn against him if he makes too many concessions to opponents within his own party.
And with two minutes left on the clock, McSheffrey was again on hand to slide a pass through to Jerome who beat the offside trap and kept his cool to send Birmingham in front.