Countdown to hustings

I've just finished putting the finishing touches to my selection speech for Sunday's hustings meeting and am now busy trying to commit it to memory.

There have been a couple of developments in this last week. Dan Lodge, who was one of the original 24 applicants for Putney was selected as Labour's general election candidate for Wimbledon last Saturday. I worked with Dan during last year's council elections - he was candidate for the Battersea ward of Queenstown, and only narrowly missed out on getting elected there after fighting a fierce campaign. He'll make an excellent candidate there.

And Eleanor Tunnicliffe, one of my fellow shortlistees for Putney and a local member, was selected to stand as our candidate in next-door Richmond Park the following day. Richmond Park's a much more difficult constituency for Labour than either Putney or Wimbledon - it's a marginal battleground between the Lib Dems (who narrowly hold it) and the Conservatives, who've picked Zac Goldsmith as their candidate.

I know Eleanor will continue to build the strong links that exist between Putney and Richmond Park Labour Parties: Richmond Park members often come over and help get out our vote on the Lennox Estate which is right on the boundary of our two constituencies - it's really appreciated and makes all the difference in close elections. Zac's dad famously stood in Putney for his Referendum Party in 1997 - one of the landmark events of that great election night when Labour's Tony Colman ousted David Mellor and began his eight years' service as MP for this lovely constituency.