Ladbrokes are offering 50/1 that Strauss steps up to the crease and is made the Tory candidate for Corby, with the former England captain 16/1 to beat Andy Sawford and win the seat. A Ladbrokes spokesman said: “If the Tories send Strauss into bat in Corby their odds of securing the seat will tumble“. Only KP running for the LibDems could stop him…

UPDATE: The punters are piling their cash on Strauss for Corby and he is now 25/1 to be the Tory candidate.

UPDATE II: Odds have been slashed again – now 16/1.

Tory MP Brian Binley gives Dave two barrels:

“The country needs a full-time Prime Minister and not a chamber-maid for a marginal, irrelevant pressure group who have got him in a virtual arm-lock with a constant stream of threats to abandon ship.”

We shall miss her…

The back story…

…Only on Media Guido.

Trouble t’mill over at ‘Hacked Off’, the now defunct campaign for a judge-led inquiry into phone-hacking. The lobbying group for those that hate a free press is funded by the likes of Hugh Grant and Max “schlagen” Moseley. While reeling from an existential crisis as Leveson comes to an end, it seems their campaign co-ordinator Thais Portillo-Shrimpton has walked out.  It’s “no comment” from her when Media Guido got in touch, but it’s rumoured there was deep concern in the group about their hysterical over-reaction to the Sun printing the Harry photos. It’s notable that Portilho-Shrimpton is leaving before finding a new job. Perhaps it wasn’t universally agreed that the Sun’s decision signalled the death of the free press.

Having spent the last year picking up the bar-tab while the group coached phone-hacking victims before their Leveson appearances, Hugh Grant has formally taken up the role of director. He will join those other well-known freedom lovers Evan Harris and Brian Cathcart. They’re recruiting various staff for their, as yet, unclear future. Form an orderly queue…

The local press in Corby like the idea of Andrew Strauss knocking Labour’s Andy Sawford for six, as does one local Conservative councillor they have quoted:

‘Corby borough councillor Rob McKellar said: “I couldn’t rule out voting for Andrew Strauss as a Conservative candidate if the rumours were to be true. I would like our next MP to be somebody who lives in the constituency and who has Corby and East Northamptonshire at heart.

But that is not to say a high-profile candidate couldn’t achieve this, while raising the profile of the area at the same time.”’

Howzat?