Guido has seen exchanges between the Government whips office and Tory MPs that would imply they are not expecting the Eastleigh writ to be moved for many months. Michael Fabricant, who seems to be in charge of the by-election again, reminds colleagues that the LibDems have three months to fire the starting gun. His background notes on the seat confirms that the Tory candidate will be Maria Hutchings, though he is rather gloomy about her prospects “although many constituents in Eastleigh will understandably feel that they have been let down badly by their Lib-Dem MP, this will not be a shoe-in [sic] for us.” Somewhat of an understatement…

UPDATE:

Oh no! I sent a message round to MPs and spelt 'shoo-in', 'shoe-in'. I may have to resign. http://t.co/cheFyCFu

— Michael Fabricant (@Mike_Fabricant) February 5, 2013