When he reads the morning newspapers, which these days offer dire warnings about "Tory meltdown", William Hague knows he has to put a brave face on it. And he does.
But he would be forgiven for a few more sleepless nights over the next week if he considers the threat to 22 Tories in marginal seats posed by the staunchly anti-EU United Kingdom Independence Party.
As pressure builds on Mr Hague to pull something spectacular out of the hat to save the Tories from complete collapse on June 7th, trouble is brewing in vulnerable seats.
The UKIP has drawn up a high-profile Conservative hit list which could split the Tory vote over Europe, allowing Labour and the Liberal Democrats to steal several Tory marginals from under their noses. Bankrolled by the multi-millionaire Yorkshire entrepreneur, Paul Sykes, the UKIP is fielding more than 400 candidates in the election on the platform of ending British membership of the EU.
In the last election, UKIP supported Tory candidates who defied the party line and ruled out ever joining the single currency, and at one stage Mr Sykes considered putting some of his money into Tory coffers.
But when William Hague went only as far as ruling out membership of the euro for the next parliament, Mr Sykes went to the UKIP where his reported gift of £10 million could go a long way to ensuring there are even fewer Tory MPs in parliament next month.
Explaining his tactics to supporters recently, Mr Sykes declared: "Europe wrecked Prime Minister Thatcher and it wrecked John Major and it wrecked two chancellors. It'll be the rock on which the Conservative Party will founder because at the end of the day the truth will out."
Of particular concern to Mr Hague and his party strategists is the UKIP challenge to prominent Tory front-benchers and Eurosceptics. The UKIP does not have any MPs, but it has three MEPs and in this election it has targeted Eurosceptic figures including the former cabinet ministers, John Redwood and Peter Lilley and the former defence secretary, Michael Portillo, in his Kensington and Chelsea seat in London.
Dismissing the UKIP's tactics as "clumsy and crass", Mr Redwood said its policy of pulling out of the EU would damage the Tories' campaign to save sterling and renegotiate with Europe.
With the Tories staking their campaign on a pledge to save sterling, if the UKIP succeeds in helping Labour and the Liberal Democrats to a few Tory marginals the damage to Mr Hague could be even worse than his critics have dared imagine.