Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness

When Sir Reg Empey announced his intention to stand in South Antrim, Willie McCrea offered him a guided tour. Perhaps he could do with a bit of a refresher himself. After all, he was once a famous parachutist too. Now he appears to be seeking votes in North Antrim. Desperation or time to get a map Willie?

Then there were eighteen. Or, accurately, seventeen, plus one trying desperately to wriggle out of it. Yesterday morning Three Thousand Versts revealed that posters and literature for Sir Reg Empey's campaign in South Antrim has already been printed. Thank goodness then, for the sake of the environment, that his candidacy has been confirmed. Ivor at Hand of History has the scoop .

Gordon Brown's election announcement signals a 29 day dash to the election finishing line. Which is all very well if you have your candidates, and their campaign team, ready to go. In seventeen out of eighteen constituencies Conservatives and Unionists at least have a Westminster hopeful in place. The eighteenth, outstanding constituency, remains South Antrim, where Adrian Watson was rejected , due to his propensity for immoderate outbursts. Reg for South Antrim? So who will fill the vacancy in a constituency which should offer the Conservatives and Unionists one of their best chances of a Commons seat? The best bet is still Sir Reg Empey. Three Thousand Versts is led to believe that literature and posters have been prepared, for a possible challenge to Reverend Willie McCrea by the UUP leader. Realistically, Sir Reg's leadership is now linked, inextricably, to the Conservative and Unionist project. However you assess his performance in recent times, Empey is one of its ...

If there were any doubts about Adrian Watson’s unsuitability as a Conservative and Unionist Parliamentary Party Candidate they have been laid to rest by his reaction to de-selection. A series of spittle flecked, scattergun rants have appeared in the media ever since the decision on his prospective candidacy was formalised. Following Chris Grayling’s unofficial foray into the debate about guest houses which refuse to accommodate gay couples, Watson has pounced yet again and one of his more temperate lines of attack alleges Conservative ‘double standards’. Apart from the obvious fact that there were concerns over Watson’s possible candidacy, which had nothing to do with bed, breakfast or homosexuality, from the moment he signalled his intention to stand, Grayling’s case bears no serious comparison. Despite misleading headlines in the Observer, Grayling made a reasonable point, in moderate language, at a private discussion of the issue. Bed and breakfast owners, he suggested, formed ...