Colonel Bob Stewart becomes the latest Tory MP to announce he is standing down, his ultra marginal Beckenham seat will be all to play for at the general election. The colourful colonel will be much missed.

The MP for Beckenham was recently found guilty of a supposedly racially aggravated public order offence. During a heated exchange after being accused of being corrupt – “Bob Stewart, for how much did you sell yourself to the Bahraini regime?” he told the protestor: “Go away, I hate you. You make a lot of fuss. Go back to Bahrain…. Now shut up, you stupid man.” Many thought the magistrate Paul Goldspring was harsh in finding the exchange to be a racially aggravated public order offence.

Bob was always outspoken and an old school traditional Tory.  His association has begun the search for a new candidate…