** Smith & Williamson fund manager Mark Swain trying toclose a short position in Persimmon as housebuilderssoar on Conservative Party surprise outright election win
** Swain, a co-manager of firm's long/short Enterprise fundis long Taylor Wimpey (TW) & Crest Nicholson (CN) but has been short Persimmon
** Persimmon expensive (biggest & considered safest) on 2.3xP/B vs TW on 2.1x & CN 2x, Thomson Reuters data shows
** Labour's "use it or lose it" policy for developers whoown land that could be used for homes & its "mansion tax" hadunnerved investors; Thomson Reuters UK Homebuilding index down c.5 pct from mid-April till Thurs close
** Index up 5.2 pct on Friday, a whisker off a record &poised for biggest one-day rise since August 2013
** A 5.3 pct gain from Persimmon puts stock on track forbest day in more than a year (RM: tricia.wright1.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)