Doctors In The House

This is one to watch.

Martin Bell faced neither a Labour nor a Lib Dem candidate at Tatton in 1997, and he had a silly election address written by Oliver Kamm as a clever-clever pastiche of the views that they both imagined to have been held by ghastly provincial Tories. The whole thing was an exercise in antipolitics, anticipating the expenses "scandal" of more recent times.

When Bell put up on his true principles, against Eric Pickles in 2001, he was blown out of the water, as were those who tried in 2010 to capitalise on a moat and duck house for neither of which one penny was ever paid out. At most, they made some difference to the outcome of one seat, the one previously occupied by Jacqui Smith. Even that, though, is far from definitely the case.

However, Dr Richard Taylor won and held Wyre Forest in 2001 without a Lib Dem opponent. He might have done so anyway. Who knows? But the fact remains that that was how it happened. He lost last time, although, at a good age and after two terms, that was anything but a cause for shame. This latest exercise is an attempt to repeat Dr Taylor's strongly policy-based candidacy on a much larger scale, and without the Lib Dems. Oh, yes. One to watch, indeed.