The countdown begins.

[Inspector Knacker]

Saw Williams on the BBC Sunday morning and he looked a bit twitchy to say the least. Apparently he's getting a good reception on the door step. Whose doorstep....? .....the constituency Labour Party members?
It was painful to watch, he came over as someone who's found himself somewhere he just doesn't want to be.
His mistake was charging in on his white stallion as Sir Talkalot, he drank copiously at the well of publicity and effortlessly harvested the major share of the interest of the media, but all it did was highlight the flaws, when what he really needed with his history was a low profile approach. Stick your head up in the election trenches and you get shot at, he never learned and became a Jack in the box, when in reality he should have nailed the lid firmly shut.

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

He was twitchy on the Victoria Derbyshire interview, too.

[akarjl2]

https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/19275588.boris-johnson-hartlepool-just-days-go-by-election/

The Boss is in town again.

He was well received by the public, with Seaton resident Anthony Skordis the first to grab a selfie with the PM.

He said he was voting Conservative in the by election because he believes Boris Johnson is doing a good job running the county in difficult circumstances.

He said: "It isn't a job I'd like to do and I think he's doing it well.

I wish they had reported

MK1 the first to grab a selfie with the PM

[Inspector Knacker]

I wish they had reported

MK1 the first to grab a selfie with the PM

Or even....'Boris approaches Mk1 for selfie as Labour luvvie  combusts spontaneously'.

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

Wonder whether the company of which Williams was once CEO falls into this category? Hartlepool and Stockton Health Ltd.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/non-nhs-healthcare-providers-given-96bn-in-a-decade-says-labour/ar-BB1gjLzY?ocid=msedgntp

He's no longer CEO - in fact, he isn't now a director. But is he a shareholder? If it is correct that he works in Urgent Care, is he working under the auspices of his old company?

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/09953773

A newspaper article from the archives ...

https://www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.co.uk/news/15444842.revealed-north-east-mp-dr-paul-williams-is-director-of-the-company-that-could-block-your-referral-to-hospital/?fbclid=IwAR32JD_KRo0-6EkqdskerdXZzjaBU-S7ffZRFDLYCJuOut7lWF5QpeyQ4f8

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

Interesting ... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56859750

[Inspector Knacker]

The part about Prescott getting elected has be pie in the sky, he'd be no more than an independent himself. He gives me the impression of putting thinking low his list of priorities.

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

Reading this article, it would almost seem that Labour's accepting defeat in advance. Even on a local activist level, perhaps?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/may/04/internal-polling-suggests-labour-heading-for-defeat-in-hartlepool-byelection

[Inspector Knacker]

You always have that nagging doubt though. Come on though people actually voted for Mike Hill, one of nature's great unsolved mystery's.

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

You always have that nagging doubt though. Come on though people actually voted for Mike Hill, one of nature's great unsolved mystery's.

The TV programme 'Father Ted' character (Father Stone?) always made me think of Hill.

[Inspector Knacker]

You do a disservice to Father Stone, who had a dynamic charisma in comparison.
'They also serve who stand and wait'....the man said.