Liam Byrne’s letter has been an ever present prop in this election, wheeled out by David Cameron at every opportunity. But what of the man himself? Byrne used to be a Labour broadcast regular, sent out to mop up, but during this campaign he was keeping a very low profile. Guido spotted him briefly addressing the controversial segregated Labour rally, but apart from that…

Well it turns out he is hiding at his desk. A co-conspirator writes:

“Just rang his office to ask about sex segregation. Blow me down, the man himself picked up the phone. Referred me to an article in the Birmingham Mail and put the phone down.”

From the cabinet position of Chief Secretary, to answering his own phone, while lurking in his office at the peak of an election campaign to hide from the media. Ouch…