I discovered that a political rival from my student days is now the Tory candidate for Hammersmith and Fulham, Conservative target seat #26, and sent him a short “hello” message. He replied that I was the only person he’d ever lost an election to (for Deputy President of Cambridge University Students Union in 1989) and so he hoped the Lib Dems weren’t about to select me for the same seat! He can rest easy. Since the Lib Dem vote has advanced from a modest 8% to a towering 11% there over the last few years, I don’t think it will make much difference who their candidate is.