Education Monday

The photo-op by-election continued on Monday with Goves escorting young Chloe to Hellesdon High and Ostrowski blending into Balls contingent at Sewell Park College. Balls visit had the added spice of Michael Crick with a Newsnight crew shamelessly using the school as a backdrop for a Cricks' ambush - ironically taking the form of accusing Balls of doing the same. The student perspective was interesting - Crick was seen as a wally and getting in the way, and upon finding out his name he was then dubbed 'Crick the prick'. But for all the media in attendance there was very little reporting on local news media, demonstrating the law of diminishing returns works with photo-ops as well.

Choice of schools was interesting - Balls at Sewell Park, predominantly taking kids from Mile Cross and Catton Grove, two areas that would normally be Labour but with a lot of disgruntled Ian Gibson supporters. Meanwhile Goves was at Hellesdon, popular with parents in the northern suburbs. Traditionally Tory but with growing UKIP influence, it seems both visits were aimed at shoring up core voters against the disrupting impact of the minor parties.

As election day approaches Labour are written off, with their candidate selection seen as contributing to the defeat. Choose from a national imposition of a poor candidate so that Brown can't be blamed (Newsnight) or a locally inspired two fingered gesture to the national party (local gossip). So with a certain Tory win, the real interest is in whether the Greens can beat the LibDems to third spot - or even beat Labour to second. Recent Green success in the County Council elections showed that the electorate are disgruntled enough to elect any muppet so long as they aren't representing a traditional party. I can't help thinking, however, that the Greens would have been better off sticking with their usual candidate rather than letting Rupert take the spotlight. I know I'm not the only Gibson supporter that was considering a Green vote in the by-election until they selected Rupert.