Best Of

This 35% for Reform could be their Boris in Hartlepool moment.

Let me give you the scenario - the rise of Advance UK.

RetardUK was founded by Ben "Nigel was mean" Habib and now has Rock-on Tommeh as a member and Elon Musk as cheerleader.

We haven't yet seen which way Rupert Lowe goes, but he seems to be heading to join Retard as well.

Reform - Farage - knows that to get elected they can't go full fascist. So they are throwing out soundbites and genius tribe-building moves like the football shirt, but when pressed on policy detail they equivocate.

If Muskbaby amplifies the fascist cause then they will find a way to build a tribe which is more effective than a football shirt.

In this scenario, if we are lucky then the Fukker and the Retard mobs cancel each other out. If we are unlucky? Tommy Robinson as LOTO shouting DEPORT THE PAKIS NOW across the dispatch box at PM Nigel Farage.

Advance UK may be yet another damp squib. We will see. But they are far more dangerous than Farage. For all of his endless faults SYL is a very effective agitator. Give him a BIG platform and who knows what damage he could do to our electoral system.

I work in Hartlepool, drivel like this is just the ususal class based snobbery

Blow it out your arse. I was on here calling Hartlepool for the Tories before their Labour MP quit.

This has nothing to do with the politics and everything to do with snobs looking down on those less fortunate than themselves.

I lived in different parts of the red wall for 42 years. I had nothing growing up - we couldn't afford a proper football shirt for me to wear at school like all my mates had. I then went on to represent constituents in a seriously poor community.

And you think I'm a class snob because I abhor racism. Bless.

Youve sold out.

Youre now one of the snobs

Not all working class are racists. Not even all working class are anti-immigrant. THey are a vocal minority in every 'class'.

Remember it was the working class of London and other cities who stood against Mosely then later the BNP. There is nothing 'working class' about being racist. Anyone with an ounce of sense can see that the middle and upper class wannabe big shots are the ones using anti-immigration rhetoric as a tool to incite the working classes and pretend it is the answer to all their genuine problems. Just as Trump used immigration and ;protectionism as a tool to galvanise the working classes in America when actually the issues are far deeper than that.

Ed Davey boycotts the state dinner and Trump dies of shock.

LibDems winning here!!!

I've never understood how people could tolerate the State banquets of the 19th century, with seven or eight courses, each with their own wine, followed by port and brandy, and the room cloudy with cigar smoke, and everyone wearing uncomfortable evening clothes.

In fact, Felix Faure, French President, didn't. He collapses and died, after having sex with his mistress, straight after presiding over a banquet.

This is why you must never, ever, have strenuous sex with your mistress immediately after eight courses, wine, port, brandy, and a Cuban cigar.

It's a rule I have lived by, and it has served me well.

A couple of difficulties with a Corbyn candidacy from the Devolution Bill (assuming it passes, which is a pretty safe bet with a large Labour majority):

1. The Mayor of London will no longer be able to be a sitting MP. That's fine for Corbyn standing, but he'd need to resign his seat to take the job if elected. Corbyn loves being an MP - it's all he's ever known and it's his world. It also makes it hard for him to "lead" his party - he cannot be his party's PM designate or whatever as Mayor of London (and for the same reason, Farage wouldn't stand).

2. The electoral system is returning to supplementary vote (which the original tweet seems to miss with reference to "a four-way split"). Extreme candidates are less well-placed on second preferences.

I think there are other problems with a Corbyn run. He's never shown any real interest in or views on municipal government - get him onto workers rights for Bolivian tin miners or whatever, and he won't shut up... electriification of the SL4 route and the pros and cons of floating bus stops, not so much. Contrast Ken Livingstone back in the day - similarly left wing but authentically interested in London. It's also quite a constrained role that requires compromise and deals with government - it just doesn't come with an ability to implement radical left ideas.

Whilst it could be a trading bet - if Corbyn's party does reasonably well in local elections in May, presumably his odds will come in. But I really don't see him running or winning if he does.