The party man is in to Nottngham East...

So Chris Leslie has been selected as the Labour candidate for Nottingham East – an event about as surprising as a boiled potato.

The news came out this afternoon, but as ever I promise to bring something new to the table.

As Jim P at the FT correctly suggests this selection will be seen as an incident of parachuting.

There was of course an attempt to pay lip service to the local party by including three local candidates on a shortlist of nine.

Each of the nine were then given interviews by the “special selection panel”.

BUT, Lobbydog hears that the candidates were given five minutes each to make a mini-presentation and were then questioned for ten – 15 minutes each in total.

Given that the incumbent John Heppell has been in the seat for 18 years, as may his predecessor be, it seems an awfully short amount of time.

“But it’s so close to the election, we needed to do things quickly,” cry the Labour powers that be.

If that was the case then why didn’t they let the local party organise a hustings and selection on Monday, as they suggested doing, to finish the job two days earlier.

The reason is, of course, that the upper echelons of Labour wanted their man and got him.

It does not sound like there is an appetite for the local party to put up an independent in protest though, as has happened in Stoke Central.

That may be because the leading local candidate, Nottingham City Council Leader Jon Collins, is not everyone’s favourite bunny.

Collins apparently wanted the seat badly and had gone the extra mile in terms of lobbying for it.

But word has it that the unions effectively vetoed him from getting the seat during a meeting in Downing Street, because they had a vendetta to settle over a spat in Nottingham.

Never mind Jon – only another 18 years to wait. I’m sure the unions will have got over it by then.

Heppell stands down...

It turns out that rumours going round about John Heppell’s future as an MP were true.

The Labour whip and Nottingham East MP will stand down at the election after his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer.

We’re so close to polling day now that there won’t be time to have a full selection contest.

Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) may simply select a shortlist for local members to have a quick vote on or they may simply thrust someone in.

Nottingham Labour people have already spoken to LD warning that the NEC should not attempt to parachute someone in.

Another Labour retirement?

Rumours are swirling around that another Labour MP in Nottingham will announce he is standing down at the election.

Nottingham East MP John Heppell – a Labour whip – is said to be strongly considering the move.

Heppell has been around in the Commons since 1992 when he won his seat from the Conservative incumbent.

If the rumours turn out to be true he will join a string of Labour MPs from Nottinghamshire that say they’ve had enough.

Nottingham South’s Alan Simpson, Sherwood’s Paddy Tipping and Ashfield’s Geoff Hoon are all calling it a day. Meanwhile Mansfield’s Alan Meale is also said to be considering retirement.

If Meale and Heppell do stand down then that’s five out of eight Labour MPs in the city and county who will be retiring.

Leaked email

This was leaked to Lobbydog - an email from whip John Heppell to Hoon after the story broke. See how he mocks Hoon's own email by signing off in the same way.

Dear Geoff

I can only imagine you have taken leave of your senses. God knows what harm you have caused with your indulgence.

I am sure your view is not shared by the majority of the PLP or ordinary party members who you arrogantly assume should have no say in this process.

I am sure there will be no appetite for your proposed distraction and it will disappear as quickly as your credibility.

Yours fraternally

John Heppell

And all as things seemed to be calming down a bit for Gordon.

Big Brother watches Labour MPs

During PMQs John Heppell was sitting in the upper-gallery with what looked like a list of Labour MPs.

It seemed as though he was checking the Government benches to see who was there, before marking them off with a blue highlighter.

It may be that the former whip, Nottingham East MP, has been pulled back into doing some work for Labour Chief Whip Nick Brown.

Either way, it comes on a day when the Government will face an opposition motion calling for a general election.

Perhaps the Government aren’t quite so confident they’ll get the numbers in to vote against it?

UPDATE 11/6/09: It's confirmed that Heppell is back in the whips' office after two years in the wilderness.

Heathrow loyalties

It turns out that of the three Notts MPs who signed the EDM calling on the Government to scrap the runway only one voted against it last night.

Not surprisingly it was Alan Simpson (Nottingham South), while John Heppell(Nottingham East) and Nick Palmer (Broxtowe) sided with the Government.

When the chips are down...

Heathrow vote

The Tories have rather cleverly worded their Heathrow motion, now being debated, along the lines of the EDM that 57 odd Labour MPs have already signed.

It urges the Government to rethink its third runway plan.

So anyone that signed the EDM should theoretically vote with the Tories.

Any of the 57 Labour MPs which doesn't will stand accused of being a mindless Government stooge.

Three Notts MPs signed the EDM – Nick Palmer, John Heppell and Alan Simpson. I'll be watching what they do.

The Tories would need 38 Labour MPs to rebel to win the vote. That probably won't happen because right-wing Tories too will rebel against their leader and vote for the runway.

Greenpeace cock-up

"Kicking their own supporters," is how Alan Simpson has described Greenpeace's strategy to email barrage MPs.

For some reason they thought it would be a good idea to target MPs who've already shown sympathy for their cause (see below).

Simpson said he got 6,500 e-mails - which blocked his computer up, leading to complaints from constituents.

Being a proud environmentalist he must be really hacked off to lash out at Greenpeace.

UPDATE: Nottingham East MP John Heppell (pictured here with a senior Labour Party figure) also had his in-box barraged.

He said: "I thought it was a deliberate attempt to crash our systems. I didnt realise it was just stupidity."