I want to talk about policy. Really, I do. Honest. I want to talk about my vision for Britain and for Sheffield and how I think we can overcome the challenges we are facing.


But these Tories make it so darn hard. Every time I write what I feel to be an insightful or interesting article, the Tories in Hallam do something to bring us crashing back down trivia. This puts me in a really difficult position: I don't want to "go negative", but at the same time the implosion of the Sheffield Conservatives tells us a lot about them.


So I have given in to temptation again. A top Tory has told Mr. Gage, (my former Tory opponent), that he could have remained the Tory candidate for Hallam if he had "slept with the mayor's wife" instead of of being expelled from Dronfield Council.


Alan Ryder, deputy chairman of Sheffield Hallam Conservatives, emailed barman Daniel Gage, aged 24, after he stood down as the party's candidate against Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg at the general election. Mr Ryder told Mr Gage: "The fact is that once your council record became public knowledge your position as candidate became untenable. If you had done anything else – such as 'sleeping with the mayor's wife' or whatever – then we could have got round it."


I agree with local Labour MP Angela Smith who said "The remarks are unbelievably flippant and an insult to the current mayor. Clearly David Cameron's makeover of the Tory Party has yet to reach South Yorkshire. It was quite right to challenge their candidate because of his non-attendance as an elected councillor, but you would have thought any party worth its salt would have checked out his record before selecting him.


Mr. Gage has now been suspended from the parliamentary candidates list and has threatened to stand as an Independent. The full article can be found at The Star


No more distracting nonsense - back to the important stuff now, I promise!