Steerpike

When Heidi Allen announced that she would stand to be the new mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough -- while continuing her work as an MP -- the decision was reported to have gone down like a cup of cold sick with local Tories. The backbench rebel's decision to seek the Tory nomination ruffled feathers, with Conservative councillors suggesting Allen was on a mission to have her cake and eat it. Alas Mr S can disclose that Allen's hopes have now been dashed. The Tory MP has been eliminated from the Cambridgeshire Conservative Mayoral selections. After securing only four votes, Allen has failed to make it into the top three -- comprised of James Palmer, Steve Count and Roger Harrison, who have all progressed to the final round.

With Tristram Hunt stepping down as Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, Jeremy Corbyn has issued a statement wishing his old foe the best. Alas, not every comrade is on the same page. Paul Flynn -- a former member of Corbyn's shadow cabinet -- has had to delete a tweet in which he suggests Hunt quit as he was 'baffled' by the 'vulgar alien world of politics': https://twitter.com/Alain_Tolhurst/status/819868419432583168 Mr S suspects Flynn's insult would have had more impact had he managed to correctly spell either Tristram's name or academia...

This week John Bercow suggested a Labour MP was in need of an ASBO after she jeered Theresa May a little too enthusiastically during PMQs. Now, the Speaker has encountered another issue with unruly Labour MPs in the Chamber. Today Chris Bryant left the Speaker lost for words when he wished Bercow a 'happy kiss a ginger day'. Bercow had to take a break to discover what this day was about -- before letting Byrant down gently: 'This kiss a ginger activity is probably perfectly lawful but I've got no plans to partake in it myself. I have not the slightest idea what the honourable gentleman was suggesting so the matter had to be googled for me.' Still given that Bercow's wife Sally has an auburn tint to her locks, there may be hope for the Speaker yet...

It's tradition that the Prime Minister kicks off the new year by giving a broadcast interview to the Andrew Marr show. However, this year Theresa May has decided to mix things up and snub the BBC in favour of Sky News. On Sunday, May will instead be interviewed by Sophy Ridge to kickstart Ridge's new morning show: https://twitter.com/SophyRidgeSky/status/816768482188599296 This means that Marr now has to settle for Justine Greening and Nicola Sturgeon. Mr S's BBC mole says the decision has gone down 'like a cup of cold sick' with the upper echelon of the Beeb.

With Labour predicted to win as little as 20pc of the vote in the 2020 election, there's been little cause for celebration in the Leader's Office this week. However, should you be a glutton for punishment, an opportunity has arisen to join the beleaguered party as its 'deputy director' of Strategy and Communications: The lucky candidate will work as Seumas Milne's deputy -- and will preferably have experience of project management in 'complex situations'. It seems, too, that Corbyn may be looking to step outside of his comfort zone -- with the deputy director required to have 'first class' networking skills. Alas it might not be the longest career working for the Labour party -- the job only lasts as long as Corbyn is leader...

After Sir Ivan Rogers unexpectedly resigned as Britain's ambassador to the EU on Tuesday, it's safe to say that the diplomat is not the flavour of the month in Downing Street. In fact, given that his resignation letter appeared to take swipes at both Theresa May and Liam Fox over their Brexit approach, it's probably for the best if Rogers keeps a low profile in the coming weeks. Alas, this might not be possible. Bill Cash has today written to Rogers to remind him that his presence has been requested before the European Scrutiny Committee. The arch-Brexiteer adds that the committee's interest in Rogers is 'all the stronger' in light of his resignation: Popcorn at the ready...

Anyone reading the news of late would be forgiven for thinking that Labour is far from election ready. In fact, the party's poor polling led Unite's Len McCluskey -- a key Jeremy Corbyn ally -- to yesterday declare that if the polls are 'still awful' come 2019, Corbyn could have to stand down. However, fear not. It turns out that there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for the bad results: they're fake. Jeremy Corbyn's brother Piers has taken to Twitter in defence of the Labour leader. He suggests that Corbyn cannot be judged by the awful polling as 'fake polls mislead'. No doubt today's report from the Fabian Society claiming Labour could win just 20pc of the vote in a 2020 general election is also a dud.