Ed tried to stitch up a seat for Bad Al. Panic not, Campbell claims he turned the offer down, telling the Times:

“Burnley was one of the seats around the country that the party planned for an all-woman shortlist, Ed offered to un-pick it if I fancied running for it, and I thought long and hard. But in the end I decided against it.”

As Guido reported at the time, despite denials, Campbell’s wife Fiona Miller was looking to stand in Hampstead when Glenda Jackson announced she was standing down. Thankfully she has also thought better of the idea. You have to question Ed’s judgement given he was willing to bend the rules for someone so toxic. Very “new politics”…

What could have caused Bad Al to spurn the chance to further the cause of his beloved Labour Party in parliament? He would of course have to give up the lucrative fees for “strategic advice” to tyrants and declare the villa in France in the register of interests…