Hazel Blears: It Ain't So! (New Pic)

The Tories Deputy Pontificator has this:Iain Dale's Diary: Hazel Blears: Say it Ain't So!. Hot off the press, not.

OK. Barbara Keeley has just held onto her Worsley seat up the road, now sansthe bits of Wigan/Leigh that were tagged on (though mostly forgotten). But essentially this is a lot of out of date Tory Tosh. This story has been placed - by Mr Ian Stewart's friends - in our at times rather gullible local rag most recently nearly three weeks agohere.

Anyone with a command of research will find that although Mr Stewart has not had a glittering ministerial career to defend (or to brown off leftists) he has managed to consistently drag himself through the lobbies with Ms Blears and Mr Blair on the war and most everything else.

So where's the political choice there then? Both are Co-op Party people too. Stewy has the edge with the Trade Unions. But Hazey has The Daily Mail and The Sun in the palm of her hand.

Both are personally fairly popular with their local people. And the Blairs sorry Blears part of the new constituency is much much bigger than the rump of Stewart's.

Clearly when this vote comes to pass one of the two Blairite/Brownite/Reidite/Millibandiste characters will be parachuted in somewhere else. More on this later.