1.   Fifty-four more companies - just over a third - giving to the governing party were thanked with knighthoods.

2.   I understand why he chose this country, where the governing party is never rude, even when provoked, and unfailingly considerate.

3.   Parliamentary systems giving the head of government discretion on timing the election have traditionally been used for advantage by governing parties.

4.   Successive state elections have seen the governing parties pummelled by a dismayed electorate.

5.   The governing party controls two-thirds of the parliament.

6.   The killings have damaged relations between the governing Popular party in Madrid and the Basque regional government.

7.   There has been a rising chorus of opposition to the governing parties from across the political spectrum.

8.   These professional persuaders will spend an estimated two million pounds to bend the ears of the governing party.

9.   Forty members of the governing Conservative party rebelled, voting against the government line.

10.   Attempts to intimidate people into voting for the governing party did not work.