There was a time when we all believed that defence was safe in the hands of the Conservative Party. We all remembered that evil Dennis Healey scrapped the TSR2 and P1154 (etc.) and instigated huge cuts as we withdrew from East of Suez.........
And we forgot that it was the Conservatives who cut the RAuxAF's flying squadrons and RAFG's day fighters following Sandys' infamous (and mad) 1957 White Paper, and who then slashed the remainder of the RAF on numerous occasions from 1960 onwards. John Nott before the Falklands, Options for Change, Frontline First, etc.
I hate and despise grinning Tone, but Gordon's promised an increase in defence spending in real terms, while Oliver Letwin has promised only to freeze defence spending for two years (a cut in real terms unless we suddenly find ourselves in deflation!).