Hartlepool by-election... in October or November

[JohnFKennedy]

Labour will hold it, I'd be very suprised if they lost it... VERY VERY SURPRISED.... as one Labour Polster said "Hartlepool?, not many asians in Hartlepool"  

So why is he called Hangus the Monkey?

In the Napoleonic Wars a French ship sunk near Hartlepool. The only surviving member of the crew was the ships mascot (a monkey).
The people of Hartlepool had never seen either a Frenchman or a monkey before, and assumed that the monkey was a member of the crew... so they hung him.
People in County Durham proper have been taking the piss out of people from Hartlepool ever since

I love that story. .

Ah Peter Mandelson will be leaving Parliament, that is good news, unfortunately, he is going to a more important job with a better salary .

Labour hold I say, strong UKIP showing.

[JohnFKennedy]

Diamond has ruled himself out.
Some very good news though: Tom Watson is up in Hartlepool at the moment

Very good stuff... did you see Routeledge's carp in the NS the other day? that guy just gets worse and worse... Hargreaves would now seem the best candidate to me.  

You read the New Statesman? That paper has a hugely left-wing slant, I prefer the Economist, more of a centrist publication, plus it is weekly, not bi-weekly.

[JohnFKennedy]

Iain Wright is the best candidate for Labour and has the local credentials, which still way heavily in the North-East.

I'm from Durham and I've been helping out in Hartlepool. I think Labour will hold the seat with a reduced majority on a substantially low turnout.

Come the General Election, the closest fight in the region will be between Labour and the Lib Dems in the City of Durham (a seat my party has held since 1935; though, it was marginal during the 1980s). Labour came out on top - just - in the recent European Elections by about 500 votes and the Lib Dems gained control of the City Council in 2003.

Dave

I believe Al is also from Durham or thereabouts.