Labour’s newly selected by-election candidate for Croydon North is clearly not very confident about his victory chances. Lambeth Council Leader Steve Reed has announced that he will not resign his position unless he wins the nearby seat. The hard-working people of Lambeth will be paying for Reed to campaign for the Labour Party rather than representing them.

Then again, anyone who has ever come across Steve and his work will know that campaigning for Labour rather than representing the people has always been his mantra – not least with his poster campaign against government cuts that was paid for at the expense of other local services. Facile largire de alieno…