Ends and beginnings for Ashfield

Gloria De Piero was selected as the Labour candidate for Ashfield last night – just in time to divert a little attention from her predecessor Geoff Hoon.

While she was busy trying to make some new political contacts, Hoon has been focusing on trying to turn his old ones into a profit.

“One of the challenges that I’m really looking forward to is translating my knowledge and contacts about the international scene into something that, frankly, makes money,” said Hoon.

He later denied any wrongdoing. No doubt he’d been “acting within the rules”. But let him fade away. Ashfield has a new story.

The Lib Dem candidate in the constituency, Jason Zadrozny, is already basing his campaign on the fact that he’s a local – his goal will be to portray Labour’s De Piero as an outsider and a party stooge.

It will be an interesting fight, but odds are that the former GMTV presenter will be the next MP for Ashfield. She is defending a 10,000 vote majority.

I’ve a feeling the tougher challenge for De Piero will have been getting the support of Labour members to win the candidacy, rather than the support of Labour voters to win the seat.