As it happens, though, he doesn’t really have to because the latter is such a safe Labour seat that a donkey with a red rosette could win (hold) it. That might or might not have a bearing on why he was selected for that seat, especially bearing in mind his current commitments.

Also, as we know, he doesn’t cope well with more than one topic (or sometimes even more than one part of a topic) at a time, so again this is a logical seat for him. He’ll walk it?

Your points are well intentioned, but we’re all in danger of missing the point that our councillors are part time. They are not elected to work full time. I don’t see how Bill Esterson campaigning in Liverpool will affect his performance as a local representative, as long as he devotes enough time to his River Ward constituents, and in this age of the iPhone and mobile broadband, most work can be done “not locally”. Its the issue of time that concerns me, and I do wonder how Reh Chisthi manages to find the time to be both a busy portfolio holder at the council, and a campagining MP. Bill Esterson is not a portfolio holder, so in fact, the pressure is more on Reh to justify how he manages to be at all times a barrister, a portfolio holder with responsibility, and a parliamentary candidate without undermining the responsibility of any of them.

And, as a matter of an aside, there’s an implication that the local Tories would like Bill Esterson to resign. Will they be brave enough to call on disgraced Cllr Brice to do the same thing?