An afternoon north of the river

To Hornsey, for an afternoon at Baroness Northover's lovely home, drinking mulled wine and eating the occasional mince pie, plus a little plotting and scheming. It was good to see a few other "out-of-towners" amongst the assembled members and activists, and I was able to discuss the prospects for Lambeth with Darren Sanders, who fought Streatham in the General Election (Streatham won, but it was a close run thing...).

Lindsay was a lot of fun, telling me about her adventures as Returning Officer for the Parliamentary Candidates Association, which sounded like a lot of fun, albeit the sort that you laugh about afterwards. Jonathan Fryer was in good form too, as was Lynne Featherstone, who continues to resemble a normal human being despite having been an MP for six months.

Then off to Barnet, to visit my younger brother, Kirk (the tall, dark, handsome one), his wife Mandy and their three children (Natasha, Imogen and Lucas). It's Natasha's birthday today and I wanted to drop off her present in person. They live in High Barnet ward, where the by-election campaign is reaching fever pitch. I'm assured that despite this, they'll be voting Liberal Democrat...