Guido can exclusively reveal Iceland supermarket boss Richard Walker, who has spent the last nine months or so trying and failing to become a Tory candidate, is planning to publicly slide across to the Labour Party at their conference in Liverpool next month. Sir Keir was hoping to reveal the hereditary CEO of Iceland as evidence that his party’s relationship with business has defrosted, and now Walker is preparing a big speech on the conference floor announcing his defection. Sorry to spoil the surprise…

Walker had spent months lobbying senior Conservative figures for a seat, and threw his toys out the pram when he found out he’d received a number of deferments preventing him from applying when vacancies cropped up. Entitled Walker’s diva ways did not help him in his efforts to get selected for the 2021 North Shropshire by-election. Guido understands there were always suspicions internally over his motives and suitability. It didn’t help that he’s previously campaigned alongside Extinction Rebellion… despite Walker’s frequent use of a private helicopter…

Now Starmer has welcomed his with open arms and intends to parade him around at Labour Conference. Has Sir Keir promised to take a safe seat out of cold storage for him?