Off the Record

Off the Record has been deluged with on-message tweets, press releases and emails from excited Conservatives welcoming the new leader Boris Johnson.

There’s something uncanny about the similarity of some of these messages - most of them have the words “clear mandate” or some similar formulation surely there can’t have been some instruction put out from party chiefs to underline that it was an emphatic victory?

Known as a political bellwether constituency, it is said that whoever wins Gravesham in north Kent will come from the party that will form the next government.

With the Brexit Party breathing down the neck of the Conservatives, Labour has selected the well-regarded county councillor Dr Lauren Sullivan as its prospective parliamentary candidate.

Dr Sullivan - according to her website - is a scientist working on neglected tropical diseases and is a published author on the subject. She is also a qualified secondary school chemistry teacher. At County Hall she is seen as one of Labour’s rising stars. It could be an interesting tussle with the incumbent Conservative Adam Holloway.

Europe has proved the Conservatives’ Achiles Heel for, well, just about forever. Ashford MP Damian Green reminded us of the lengthy faultline in an interview saying the eight party leaders he had worked under since entering politics had all been undone by the issue.

What is the solution to falling ticket sales for the Rochester Castle Concerts? Cllr Mike Baldock, who cuts a striking figure as a fan of goth music, suggests ticket sales might go in a different trajectory if more goth bands were on the bill. [Note: this was a joke.]