Guido has interrupted his second bottle of the excellent local Rosé d’Anjou – courtesy of those LibDem punters who were a little too optimistic about Bromley – to read his email. A very gracious email from John Hemming and a bizarre comment on the Beeb website from that android, Hazel Blears;

Err, Labour came fourth behind UKIP. They got beat in Wales by an independent despite the herculean efforts of the entire Labour party campaign machine. It was “anything but Labour” last night, so did she actually believe that when she said it? Why do politicians spout crap like that? Does she expect us to believe it?

Conservative chairman Francis Maude said he was pleased his party had won in Bromley and Chislehurst but “disappointed” at the margin of victory.

That seems to me a more reasonable, reality-based, honest comment. The Labour high command are increasingly like Baathists prior to the liberation of Iraq from Saddam and his henchmen, with Blears doing the Comical Ali routine. Inside the bunker getting beat into fourth place by UKIP is a disaster for the victors according to her. In the reality-based community we all know the LibDems fought a better, more spirited, energetic campaign and everybody hates Labour, including Labour supporters who switched to the LibDems. The Tory candidate was flawed, but probably fared better than an A-lister with no constituency links would have done. Anyway, my glass is empty, back to the garden for some more rosé