Labour's 'ultimate force' to visit Nottingham

The Labour Party is set to unleash a special weapon for its election campaign in Nottingham tomorrow.
Not content with the recent appearance of Gordon Brown and John Prescott, party officials are taking the battle for Notts one stage further.
Actor Ross Kemp - who starred in TV drama Ultimate Force and presented a number of programmes on gangs - is set to make an appearance in the city to boost the centre-left party.
Let's hope the hard-boiled former Eastender doesn't have a "spot o' bother" with the locals.

Brown forgets mic again!

It seems Gordon Brown is a slow learner.
Most people would have remembered the importance of removing a microphone if they had been subject to the biggest gaff at the 2010 General Election.
But for Mr Brown, it seems calling a woman "bigot" while on the air unawares, is still not enough.
During a visit to a primary school in Blidworth, an aide to the Prime Minister had to grunt "MIC!" before Mr Brown remembered to take it off his jacket.
Who knows what he may have said about a Nottingham Post reporter who quizzed him on immigration after getting in the car.

Fowl play at Ashfield hustings?

A chicken who protested outside the Nottingham Post's election hustings in Kirkby-in-Ashfield was condemned as a "disgrace" by Labour representative Andrew Clayworth.
The chicken stood outside the Summit Centre with a placard asking "Why has Gloria chickened out? What has she got to hide?" after Labour candidate Gloria De Piero said her time would be better spent knocking doors.
Rushcliffe candidate Mr Clayworth instead relayed Ms De Piero's intentions to the crowd.
The Miner has launched an appeal for the mystery bird to unmask him or herself. After all, what is an election campaign without the odd headless chicken?

The Artful (question) Dodger

The Miner was intrigued by Gordon Brown's suggestion that the problems of Notts Police force could be solved by ‘neighbourhood policing’.
For many years Notts Police has lagged behind other forces in terms of the number of offences committed in its area per head of population and the level of detection.
Earlier this year a team of experts was brought in to Notts Police in order to identify what has been going wrong and how the force could be improved.
But when asked if this was good enough, he said: “I think the best policing is what we want to see and I think neighbourhood policing is the key to it and I think getting visibility on the streets - 80% of time on the streets - is the key to that.
“So as neighbourhood policing comes in I hope people will be satisfied they are getting a better service.”
So that's where we're going wrong then...

Feisty debate during Sherwood husting

With tensions building as May 6 approaches, it was always likely that The Nottingham Post husting in Sherwood would bring about a bit of colour.
Labour activist Chris Baron, the ousted county councillor for Hucknall, was at the heart of most of the night's heckling – and Conservative candidate Mark Spencer was often on the receiving end of it.
But during the closing speeches, local farmer Mr Spencer gave a promise which may appeal to the more vociferous of voters. He said he had the nous and the "big gob" to shout for Sherwood in Westminster.
Meanwhile Labour's Emilie Oldknow characterized herself as an ordinary working woman, while independent Russ Swan as 'the man who cannot win'.
Mr Swan, who only emerged as a candidate at the eleventh hour, has started a blog about his experience at his first ever husting. Visit the following web link - http://sherwoodsaysnota.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/confessions-of-a-hustings-virgin/

Egging means campaign has really started

Finally! The first egg of the campaign was thrown today, and David Cameron was the unlucky target.
The Tory leader was hit by an egg thrown by a student as he visited a college thrown in Cornwall.
Mr Cameron, who was yesterday confronted by a giant chicken, joked afterwards: “Now I know which came first – the chicken, not the egg.”
Two things strike me about this story. First, it means the election campaign has really started - only when the water balloons / paint / eggs are flying around can we really feel the politicians are putting themselves out there.
Second, while in other countries this incident might have led to a long spell in the cells, the aftermath here was somewhat different. A Tory aide said the student was arrested and then quickly released after police established he did not have any more missiles with him, while a police spokesman said: "He was arrested but was de-arrested before reaching a police station." How genuinely marvellous.

Don't forget to register!!

THE Miner is sending out a kindly reminder to those in Notts who have not yet registered to vote.
You have until 5pm today to submit your completed forms at your local registration office. Unless you are registered, you cannot vote.
Registration could not be easier - even if you have left it to the eleventh hour!
Forms can be downloaded and printed from www.aboutmyvote.co.uk.
Details of your local registration office in Notts, where the completed forms must be taken to, can be found at the same website.
Election candidates have until 4pm today to register to stand at the election.
Don't delay.