As the Labour party’s leadership campaign gets underway it is important to remind the bag carrying, greasy pole climbers about the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers.

It can be found on the Propriety and Ethics section of the Cabinet Office website – not something that most of them will be familiar with. The code is clear, they can’t assist in any way in a leadership campaign unless they are on leave. Catch a SpAd organising a campaign meeting on the office phone, via the office Blackberry or merely pinning on a “my boss for deputy leader” badge during office hours and they are in breach. This could provide Guido’s conspirators with a lot of fun.

So if you spot a SpAd in the Portcullis coffee shop making the case for votes for their boss, you know what to do. Call the national Shop-a-SpAd hotline on 0709 284 0531.