For the first time in five years, what you wear might be influencing the way people think about you politically. Nick Clegg’s sudden popularity boost may be welcome to the Lib Dems, but, as ever, the political commentary has been at least partly about the colour of the tie each candidate was wearing.

Politicians complain about this frivolousness, but the colour of each political party is an important part of political identity.

•    Red has been the colour of the Labour Party since its inception in 1900 because it reflects the radicals of the French Revolution.
•    Traditionally, the Tory party used all three colours of the Union Jack: red, blue and white, but when Labour came along and annexed red, it settled for blue alone, which is the colour many Conservative groupings worldwide have also chosen.
•    The Liberal Dems seem to be going for gold this time around, although in the past they’ve chosen the brighter shade of orange, both of which hark back Liberal Party from which the new Lib Dems have developed.
•    And then there’s the party named after a colour – the Green Party which links its cause to the environment by choosing a colour as its title.

So if you are seen around the workplace in a red tie, people will subconsciously assume you’re a Labour supporter, while your smart blue work shirts suddenly carry an unexpected freight of Tory hinterland. The green spring-like T-shirt that you bought a few weeks ago is no longer ‘Shrek-like’ but suggests environmental associations and your Dad’s favourite shorts in canary yellow are likely to be viewed as his emergence as a nascent Cleggite. If you want to be politically neutral until after 6 May, stick to grey, black and white – grey trousers and a black shirt or jeans and a white hoodie will keep you free of party affiliations.