Politicians who cross the floor, as Ifty Choudary has done, in his case from Labour to Tory, always creates a stir, but more so this time for a couple of reasons.
Only a fortnight before announcing his defection, he was telling voters in Talavera that he was the Labour candidate and yet within days of his defeat he has shifted allegiance entirely, a move that has angered politicans not of a Conservative persuasion.
Equally, council leader David Mackintosh has brushed off suggestions there should be a by-election in the defector’s boroug h ward of Abington despite having done just that when his predecessor in the job, David Palethorpe, went the opposite way 18 months ago.
Somewhat questionably, Councillor Mackintosh denies this is hypocritical suggesting a precedent has been set and there is now no need for a by-election.
Whatever the rights and wrongs, neither Councillor Choudary’s transition nor Councillor Mackintosh’s complete dismissal of calls for by-election do much to fill the general public full of confidence and might account for why turnout on May 2 itself was so dire.
NEWS that the Battle of Naseby museum project has bitten the dust is a desperate disappointment. Here was an opportunity to create a visitor attraction similar to Bosworth or Bannockburn that put Northamptonshire firmly on the tourism map. Luckily, for now, we have the Saints doing that at Twickenham on Saturday. Good luck lads, we’re all rooting for you to life that trophy.