Re: PINKIE MITCHELL, short listed! **UPDATE** Now selected

by **PeterMac** 26.07.13 13:15

Rest of the comments "Whooshed"
How VERY surprising !
Lucky we got them. We could always just keep putting them back

ETA
Mine has just been allowed - I think

July 26, 2013 at 1.16 pm
What happened to the rest of the comments. Has Mitchell already been dictating what we may and my not say ? ? ?

- See more at: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

by jeanmonroe 26.07.13 13:35

PeterMac wrote:Rest of the comments "Whooshed"
How VERY surprising !
Lucky we got them. We could always just keep putting them back

ETA
Mine has just been allowed - I think
July 26, 2013 at 1.16 pm
What happened to the rest of the comments. Has Mitchell already been dictating what we may and my not say ? ? ?

- See more at: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT PAGES/REPORTS.
One is about selecting him, the other about him being selected.

1st report
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
24 'comments'
2nd report
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
4 'comments'

I'm going to have to change my name to FREEKY GEEKY! LOL.
Either that or i have OCD! (Observing Crap Details!)

by **PeterMac** 26.07.13 15:16

Brilliant. Many thanks for that.
Twice the opportunities for people to be critical,

by comperedna 26.07.13 16:40

It would be rather splendid if he got the Tory nomination and the Labour party selected Gerry McCann to stand against him. Perhaps sparks would fly.

Caroline Lucas is the sitting, and first and only Green Party MP, and I hope she gets in again.

by Guest 26.07.13 17:55

someone messing around with the comments on Brighton paper, sometimes they are there, then they are gone then they are there again. beware

by **Tony Bennett** 26.07.13 18:06

comperedna5 wrote:It would be rather splendid if he got the Tory nomination and the Labour party selected Gerry McCann to stand against him. Perhaps sparks would fly.

Caroline Lucas is the sitting, and first and only Green Party MP, and I hope she gets in again.

I hope she doesn't.

She recently wrote this in The Guardian:

The changes now underway in our climate, if unchecked, pose probably the greatest threat to Britain that we have ever faced. Our health and security, our society and way of life, our natural environment, even our coastline, are all at risk from uncontrolled natural forces – disease, drought, flood and storm. In terms of the human and financial cost in the UK and internationally, the impact over the coming decades has been compared to the world wars of the twentieth century.

This danger has been known about for decades – first as a theory that the release of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases into the atmosphere on a vast scale could destabilise our climate; then as an observable phenomenon as world temperatures began to rise and storms, floods and other natural catastrophes became more frequent and more serious.

Since the 1980s, successive governments and their expert advisers have accepted the seriousness of the threat, and have known what actions are needed to avert it as far as possible and to prepare for the consequences. But they have not acted either to prepare the UK or to build an international agreement on reduction. And with every passing year, the threat to our country becomes more severe.

In the same article, she goes on to compare the alleged threat from man-made climate change with the genocidal brutality of Hitler's National Socialist Party.

There is no proof of man-made climate change - and many scientists, who regrettably fail to get air-time in our mass media, are sure that recent rising temperatures (1950s to 1990s) had another cause, almost certainly changes in the sun's activity.

Even the 'warmists' accept that during the past 15 years (1998-2013) global temperatures are static or even falling slightly.

'Green taxes' and polices like grossly-oversubsidised wind-farms have caused a huge rise in fuel bills as surely most on this forum must have noticed.

Lucas favours a massive increase in the powers of the state and is IMO dangerous.

There must surely emerge a candidate worthy of beating both Mitchell & Lucas?

+++++++++++++++++++

P.S. I think that if there are hustings, Mitchell will do very well at them. He has a very quick mind and an answer for everything; he is smooth-talking, intelligent and knowledgeable, and has been telling the media what to say on certain issues for the past two decades. He is a confident man who IMO will come over well at a hustings. Any case against his candidature should ideally be made in writing and distributed to the electors.

by **Tony Bennett** 26.07.13 18:09

Cherry wrote:someone messing around with the comments on Brighton paper, sometimes they are there, then they are gone then they are there again.

You may be viewing a different thread. There are two news items (& therefore threads) about Mitchell's wish to represent Brighton & Hove.

This one...

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

...has 30 comments and is still going strong...

by **sharonl** 26.07.13 19:11

Madeleine McCann's family spokesman picked to take on Caroline Lucas
8:47am Friday 26th July 2013 in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Madeleine McCann's family spokesman has been picked as the Conservative candidate for the Brighton Pavilion constituency.
Clarence Mitchell, who has acted as the spokesman for the family of missing youngster for six years, will take on Britain’s first Green MP Caroline Lucas at the next general election.

Before his move into public relations, Mr Mitchell was a reporter for BBC News covering the Soham murders, the Fred West killings and the death of Princess Diana.

He also worked as director of the Government’s Media Monitoring Unit, controlling the flow of information to newspapers.

After being seconded by the Foreign Office to help the McCanns, Mr Mitchell resigned his government post after one month to become the family’s full-time spokesman.
He also works for PR firm Burson-Marsteller, “advising clients over engagement with both the British Government and the Conservative Party”.

But Mr Mitchell himself is no stranger to the headlines.

When he was a presenter on BBC News 24, he fell asleep during a night shift, forcing a producer to stand in for him at short notice.

And in 2008, he was involved in a row with Portuguese police who accused him of “lying with as many teeth as he has in his mouth” after McCann family statements were leaked to the media.

At the time, Mr Mitchell accused police of masterminding the leak to overshadow the visit.

Mr Mitchell battled solicitor John-Paul Floru and marketing communications specialist Michelle Lowe to be selected for the Brighton Pavilion seat, currently held by Green MP Caroline Lucas.
Councillor, who chaired the selection meeting, said: "We are very pleased to have Clarence as the Conservative candidate as he is ideally placed and qualified to take the Brighton Pavilion Parliamentary seat back into Conservative hands as that is where it truly belongs."

The election is expected to be held in May 2015.

by **PeterMac** 27.07.13 7:57

Still allowing comments. Pinkie will NOT be pleased. There is not one in favour.
recorded here for posterity - and a good laugh over morning coffee !

Perdo Silver
July 26, 2013 at 1.11 pm
Well said Sandra,I dont know what the good people of B and H call it when someone sell their services to the highest bidder without morals but I know what I call it

Mike
July 26, 2013 at 1.56 pm
Mitchell stood up proudly and spoke in favour of Fiona MacKeowm who is now a CONVICTED BENEFITS CHEAT FRAUDSTER!
Mitchell was her spokesman right up to the day of the trial!
She STOLE over £51,000!
And he was right there by her side!

Still want this fraudsters ‘friend’ to be your MP?

Sandra Webb
July 26, 2013 at 2.55 pm
I think what is the most revealing thing about Clarence Mitchell is that the moment he stopped working for the McCannns full-time, he was immediately employed by Rupert Murdoch’s son-in-law, Matthew Freud, at Freud Communications, as one of their top PR advisers. If anything will be the downfall of Cameron, it will be his connections with the powerful Murdoch empire. Murdoch’s CEO, Rebekah Brooks, and him exchanged e-mails with each other which even Leveson withheld from publication. And we haven’t heard the last of Jeremy Hunt being wheeled in by Cameron to smooth Murdoch’s bid for full control of BSkyB. Against advice, Cameron appointed former NOTW Editor (another Murdoch man) Andy Coulson to the post of Director of Communications for the Conservative Party, then the two of them appointed Cameron to be Coulson’s No. 2. If Cameron knows what’s good for him, he should cut his ties with the Murdoch empire. Appointing Mitchell as a Conservative PPC isn’t the way to go about it. The cosy Cameron-Murdoch connection is harming him

Dr Shira Silverman
July 26, 2013 at 3.51 pm
Clarence Mitchell is the man who conspired with Carter Ruck to shut down a perfectly legitimate, online Forum, run by the Daily Mirror. Free speech will never be safe in the hands of people like this.

cherry
July 26, 2013 at 4.57 pm
Please explain why posts keep disappearing, this is the third time I have had to put comment on, I have not written anything insulting or abusive or anything which is incorrect, what I have written is factual information.

This was the man who told the public to put money into an envelope and send to K and G, where is the accountability in that!
This was the man who when interviewed on Talk Sport by James Whale failed to correct James when he kept referring to the Fund as a charity. As spokesperson Mr. Mitchell had a duty to correct James who was giving misleading information to the public. Mr. Mitchell however did not correct James and therefore the public were misled into thinking it was a charity.

Sandra Webb
July 26, 2013 at 5.45 pm
By the way, I would like to thank ‘Brighton and Hove News’ for allowing all these comments, despite many of them being critical of Clarence Mitchell. It must be remembered that for over 6 years, Mitchell has been the spokesman for the McCanns, who headed up the ‘Hacked Off’ campaign which tried to suppress press freedom (and is still doing so). To his credit, David Cameron has stood up to the ‘Hacked Off’ campaign and to Lord Leveson, whose one-sided report called in effect for state control of the press. Little is achieved by suppressing debate. Let the facts be produced and then let people make up their minds on the facts. I don’t mind in the least if these comments are added to by those (and there must be some) who can write about Clarence Mitchell’s virtues, whatever they may be. It’s just that Mitchell’s track record suggests he is in the business of suppressing free debate, not promoting it

Michael McL
July 26, 2013 at 5.49 pm
cherry – There are two threads going at the moment. This one and the one at
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Confusing, but as Gerry McCann said, confusion is good.

James Krang
July 26, 2013 at 7.48 pm
As a former Brighton resident, I am ecstatic that I shall remain a former resident in 2015 as I would have become a former resident rather than be represented in parliament by Clarence Mitchell!
It is quite simply obscene to imagine a man representing Brighton & Hove, who not too long ago was on television urging pensioners, school children and caring citizens to stuff money in envelopes addressed to Kate and Gerry McCann for the LIMITED company (not charity) assuring “it will get there”.
Never before, and I am no spring chicken, have I witnessed such behaviour, and not just from him, but odd behaviour and protocol throughout this sad, sorry and ultimately tragic six years.
Go away pink one. And a very big thank you to Brighton & Hove Argus….at last a newspaper will balls who allows comments that actually let people speak their mind without the usual censorship!

- See more at: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

And on the other thread

Michael McL
July 26, 2013 at 3.07 pm
Where are the other 20 comments ? We do have copies of them. We learned long ago to copy anything involving this man, as sooner or later history will be re-written. He would make a god Minister for Truth, (Orwell, you are about to be proved right)

cherry
July 26, 2013 at 3.49 pm
This was the man who told the public to put money into an envelope and send to K and G, where is the accountability in that!

This was the man who when interviewed on Talk Sport by James Whale failed to correct James when he kept referring to the Fund as a charity. As spokesperson Mr. Mitchell had a duty to correct James who was giving misleading information to the public. Mr. Mitchell however did not correct James and therefore the public were misled into thinking it was a charity.

Dr Shira Silverman
July 26, 2013 at 3.54 pm
This is the man who boasted, at a public lecture, of getting a legitimate online discussion forum (hosted by the Daily Mirror) shut down because he didn’t “approve” of what people were saying. If this man gets elected you may as well kiss good-bye to freedom of speech in this country.

Michael McL
July 26, 2013 at 5.47 pm
I have just been informed that the other comments are on the other report, at
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
So he hasn’t managed to get at you – JUST YET ! But he will.
(To the Editor – Perhaps they should now be merged so that people can judge the extent and the depth of feeling )

James Krang
July 26, 2013 at 8.36 pm
So by the standards set by Clarence Mitchell, who has stood by two parents who left their children alone at night in a strange environment in a foreign country night after night whilst out socialising, and has campaigned and begged for money on their behalf to pay into their limited company… Do the citizens of Brighton & Hove wish to vote for a man who condones and supports child neglect?

There are plenty of mothers and fathers in Brighton & Hove on a very low income who, even if they could afford a few pints at the pub. Wouldn’t leave their kids. So if any residents decide to abandon their kids and go to their local, and one of their kids goes missing, at least they have the reassurance if they vote Conservative Clarence Mitchell will be there for them, raising money for their limited company and liasing with the press and tv, and standing outside their home begging for money to be sent in envelopes.

- See more at: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

by Guest 27.07.13 11:29

Tony Bennett wrote:
Cherry wrote:someone messing around with the comments on Brighton paper, sometimes they are there, then they are gone then they are there again.
You may be viewing a different thread. There are two news items (& therefore threads) about Mitchell's wish to represent Brighton & Hove.

This one...

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

...has 30 comments and is still going strong...

Thanks Tony I see someone has put a note on the comments now to that effect, no wonder I was confused.

by comperedna 27.07.13 14:26

I read with interest the detailed comments earlier in this thread from Tony Bennett on Caroline Lucas, the sitting MP at Brighton and Hove. I am not a supporter of the Green Party myself, and as a sometime geographer have my own doubts about global warming. I wish I had read Lucas’s article. Sounds like it was a humdinger.

He writes: “In the same article, she goes on to compare the alleged threat from man-made climate change with the genocidal brutality of Hitler's National Socialist Party”

If she made that comparison it was ‘ludicrous’ (sorry), but also tacky and tasteless, as well as wrong...

As for wind farms, I would say the are a complete con. There are farmers who find it more lucrative to farms windmills in their fields for the subsidies, than have all the trouble of looking after bullocks. I have commented that my grandchildren may be volunteering for countryside community projects to pull down the defunct rusty eyesores, and to break up and cart away the tons of concrete needed to anchor each one. They will never be economic: always and ever, other back up methods of electricity generation have to be available for each one.

Nonetheless, I still hope Lucas gets in again. There is room for one Green Party MP in the baying mix that is the House, and if her arguments are faulty they can be argued against effectively and voted down.

Tony wrote: “I think that if there are hustings, Mitchell will do very well at them. He has a very quick mind and an answer for everything; he is smooth-talking, intelligent and knowledgeable, and has been telling the media what to say on certain issues for the past two decades. He is a confident man who IMO will come over well at a hustings.”

I totally agree, and that is another reason I want Lucas do well there and to win again.

Tony also wrote “There must surely emerge a candidate worthy of beating both Mitchell & Lucas?”

I doubt that. Brighton is Brighton, and it has a distinctively individualistic and quirky electorate. Lucas’s being the only Green MP suits many of the voters. It will be difficult to find someone better than Lucas to beat Mitchell… and sure as eggs is eggs he needs to be beaten.

by **PeterMac** 27.07.13 14:41

Perhaps it is time for Martin Bell to don the white suit and stand as the "Stop Mitchell" candidate.
With the promise of taking the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds immediately after the election and forcing a proper by-election, when the local C party would have to choose a new candidate, on the grounds that the previous one was a disaster.

by Newintown 27.07.13 14:57

I don't know who is worse out of the two of them, Lucas or Mitchell. Here is a link to one of Lucas's brainwaves -

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I'm sure the people of Brighton would be over the moon knowing their hard earned taxes are going into funding "drug dens", some of the comments are really worth reading including -

Does this mean we won't have to worry about the lead on our roofs now
- Brit , Manchester, United Kingdom, 15/4/2013 19:15

The drug barons must be clapping their hands with glee!
- ollie , Ashford, United Kingdom, 16/4/2013 13:24

Give them a drug overdose room...one hit and gone...brilliant
- jayconian69 , london, United Kingdom, 15/4/2013 18:00

big grin

by comperedna 27.07.13 15:14

Who is the Martin Bell de nos jours? Mr Bell isn't likely to be up for it any more.

by plebgate 27.07.13 15:21

I like that they printed about him falling asleep at the BBC and the quote about more lies than teeth in his head. titter

The local Tories must be barking to choose him. The Tory Party faithful are leaving in droves apparently. No wonder when decisions like this are being made.

The local opposition could use a set of those wind up chattering teeth on the adverts, what a laugh that would be. ha ha big grin

I also like that if he gets to be an MP he could possibly be quizzed about the Fund etc. and there could be be some members of the public turning up and asking him some questions too. titter

edited to add the word asleep in first line.

by jeanmonroe 27.07.13 15:21

On 7 January 2008 Clarance Mitchell said:

"It may be hugely entertaining and a bit of fun to speculate on a cast list"

On 27th July 2013 I said:

“It may be hugely entertaining and a bit of fun to speculate if Mitchell will resign his candidature due to his previous connections with a convicted fraudster and a convicted benefits cheater"

by **PeterMac** 27.07.13 15:31

Comments still allowed

Flossie
July 27, 2013 at 9.20 am
Mr Mitchell has been very involved with the Madeleine McCann case. In October 2007, only months after the child disappeared, he addressed Coventry University. His subject? ‘Madeleine McCann, the Perfect PR Campaign’. Distasteful?

Mike
July 27, 2013 at 10.24 am
Don’t be fooled by McCanns ‘efforts’ to raise money for charity.
He KNEW Huge Grant would be ‘donating’ £5,000 to his ‘total’

Mike
July 27, 2013 at 10.27 am
Huge Grant is Gerry’s mate from ‘hacked off’ who would like us minions to not read anything nasty about himself.
He wants the FREE press shut down and nothing to be printed unless approved by C Mitchell!

Edith Scott
July 27, 2013 at 11.28 am
Are the Tories so stupid they don’t realise this man can never speak publicly without being questioned about his dirty work for the McCanns. He is corrupted.

Edith Scott
July 27, 2013 at 11.47 am
His first job will be to shut up the local media through shmoozing or if that doesn’t work, threats. He has the McCann lawyers behind him…they daren’t let him loose.

Mike
July 27, 2013 at 1.24 pm
How’s he gonna stop a leaflet drop to his prospective constituents?
Have to research how many voters in that area so i can start printing a leaflet now with a few facts about CM.

- See more at: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

and

mel
July 26, 2013 at 10.27 pm
No way, I don’t believe a word that comes out of this man’s mouth. How could anyone accept money from the fund to find vanished Madeleine? That money isn’t to pay for him to spin or be a spokesman, answer questions before they’re asked (who recalls the “whatever the police find there is a wholly innocent explanation” or words to that effect), or even lawsuits to sue those who don’t believe the abduction scenario and speak out about it. I know quite a few people who have requested their donations back ever since they found out some of the parents’ mortgage had been paid from it, no doubt he’ll have a wholly innocent explanation as to why they’ve all been ignored? This man is NOT to be relied upon – if you need a poor man’s Max Clifford PR agent to spin things, there’s good reason. We really don’t need someone like him in government.

Carla
July 27, 2013 at 1.17 pm
No matter how much spinmeisters may spin, Truth remains an absolute.Truth cannot die because it is enmeshed in reality.
The job of the spinmeister is to distort reality in order to distract the eye from that which they do not wish you to perceive. Unfortunately, the eye is always drawn back to the undistorted bits of reality that got forgotten in the rush. These now stand out in relief and call for their true context to return and make sense of them.
This is when the power of the spinmeister withers and dies.

Helen Williamson
July 27, 2013 at 1.51 pm
I remember Clarence Mitchell remarking to the effect that all British leave their children in an attempt to excuse McCann’s for their claim they had left 3 children under 4 alone on a foreign holiday.
This man appears to have little regard for honesty. I have NEVER left my children alone and at 66 I have not known anyone else do such a thing.
Too many children in this country found to have been abused. Leaving children of such tender age can never be right and should not be excused or spoken of as though it’s acceptable!
Conservative have lost my vote and I imagine, many others

- See more at: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

by Newintown 27.07.13 15:42

There are some excellent comments there regarding Mitchell, except mine which didn't get publised. Let's hope the people of Brighton are reading them.

Does anyone know why Mitchell is standing in Brighton, I thought you had to live in the area you represent or has that been changed.

ETA: I will email one of the opposing candidates later and draw his attention to the comments on Mitchell, if he hasn't seen them already, I do like to stir things. (Have to get the grass cut first before it pours with rain).

by plebgate 27.07.13 16:12

@ Newintown.

I hope an independent wins the seat. Mitchell as MP. He would love that especially if they get a 10 grand or more pay rise.

by jeanmonroe 27.07.13 16:19

I still say September 7th 2013.

Don't ask me why, just a feeling.

I also wear T-Shirts that are two sizes smaller than i should because it feels like i'm being cuddled all the time.

What a 'nutter' i am!

by Praiaaa 27.07.13 16:35

He won't win, but interesting that he is in the selection process. Wonder if he got any help from Esther McVey, Mrs McCann's school friend?

by **PeterMac** 27.07.13 18:51

Praiaaa wrote:He won't win, but interesting that he is in the selection process. Wonder if he got any help from Esther McVey, Mrs McCann's school friend?

Read back a bit. He was selected. Incredible, ludicrous even, that the Tories should throw away a winnable seat.

by Guest 27.07.13 19:03

PeterMac wrote:
Praiaaa wrote:He won't win, but interesting that he is in the selection process. Wonder if he got any help from Esther McVey, Mrs McCann's school friend?
Read back a bit. He was selected. Incredible, ludicrous even, that the Tories should throw away a winnable seat.

I have updated the title of the topic.

by Guest 27.07.13 22:12

[*]EXPRESS

[*]McCann media man, Clarence Mitchell, to stand for Tories
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.][img][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

McCann media man, Clarence Mitchell, to stand for Tories

MADELEINE McCann’s family spokesman has been chosen by the Tories to take on Britain’s first Green Party MP at the next general election.

Published: Sat, July 27, 2013

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]McCann's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said it was an 'honour' to have been selected

Clarence Mitchell, who has acted on behalf of the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] of the missing youngster for six years, has been selected as the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion.

He will take on Caroline Lucas, the former leader of the Green [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] who had a majority of 1,252 at the last election.

Mr Mitchell tweeted: “Absolutely delighted to be selected by Brighton & Hove Conservatives… Huge honour. The fight… starts now.”

The fight starts now
Clarence Mitchell

[*]

The former BBC [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] said he continues to work with the McCanns “when required” and his relationship with them will continue.

by plebgate 27.07.13 22:19

Comments not allowed on the Express story. Wonder why? titter

by Guest 27.07.13 22:24

they probably saw the ones on the Brighton and Hove News! titter

by Angelique 27.07.13 22:42

Well I wonder, I really do!

Will we be in the happy situation of paying his expenses when he gets into Parliament?

Why do I think that certain people connected to others seem to get rewarded for something?

Up, up, up the ladder we go!

by Newintown 27.07.13 23:05

Angelique wrote:Well I wonder, I really do!

Will we be in the happy situation of paying his expenses when he gets into Parliament?

Why do I think that certain people connected to others seem to get rewarded for something?
Up, up, up the ladder we go!

In the case of the McCanns they seem to be connected to a vast number of people who all seem to rewarding them in one way or the other. As you say up,up, up the ladder we go, first step Mitchell followed by G McCann. This has been worked out a long, long time ago and has been part of G McCann's wider agenda, he is no-one's fool; poor Madeleine got forgotten about on 3rd May 2007, she was just a stepping stone to untold riches and fame.

by **Tony Bennett** 27.07.13 23:35

Angelique wrote:Well I wonder, I really do!

Will we be in the happy situation of paying his expenses when he gets into Parliament?

Why do I think that certain people connected to others seem to get rewarded for something?

Up, up, up the ladder we go!

After doing some research on this constituency, I am not sure that the plan is to get Clarence Mitchell elected.

The seat was Conservative up until Blair swept to Murdoch-assisted power in 1997, but the Conservative share of the vote has been dropping like a stone in this constituency for the last 30 years.

Here are the results:

Year of General Election - Conservative share of the vote in Brighton Pavilion

1979 - 53.7%
1983 - 51.5%
1987 - 50,8%
1992 - 46.6%
1997 - 27.7%
2001 - 25.1%
2005 - 23.9%
2010 - 23.7%.

In this 'progessive', fun-loving constituency where 13% of the communtiy are gay (about 15 times the national average), the voters lean largely to the left-liberal point of view, and the election of Caroline Lucas as the first-ever Green MP in the country also empahsises the Brighton constiutents' enthusiasm for fashionable environmental causes like the fiction of man-made global warming.

Mitchell has been parachuted in to a seemingly unwinnable seat.

One interesting conundrum is how and when this chief spinner and manipulator for Blair and the Labour government, 'controlling what comes out in the media', decided to join the Conservative Party.

My money is on March 2010, the month that David Cameron and his Director of Communications, former News of the World Editor Andy Coulson, discussed their need for Andy Coulson to have a Deputy in the run-up to the 2010 General Election, and decied that the best man for the job was...

...Clarence Mitchell.

A PR man with the right connections for hire - whatever the cause.