A PORTILLO MOMENT?

To get this one out of the way in 1997 I was at long-gone Mash And Air in Manchester where the newly funky Labour Party was having its post-election bash. I remember it well because the Old Labour activists were demanding pints of bitter and being told they couldn't have them as it was too "downmarket."In the end, they quaffed halves instead and in the end they threw us all out for being unruly but who can forget that glorious moment when Portillo lost his Enfield seat on a 17 per cent swing to Labour .

What we didn't know then ( though some did, and they warned me) was that the landslide which we'd yearned for would actually enable Tony Blair to hijack the Party and take it away from its democratic socialist roots.

So 13 years down the line Labour ( the "New" appears to have been thankfully dropped) is fighting for its political life in dozens of seats all over the country.

Just a few miles from where I am sitting at my work station is Morley and Outwood, a new constituency where Ed Balls is under some pressure despite a notional 10,000 majority. Ashcroft money has been poured in and, if you believe the Independent, Ed is sweating it out in fear of losing.

To be honest, I think they are just flying a kite - Leeds is NOT Enfield and Cameron's reception yesterday in Bolton shows how unpopular the Tories still are in northern heartland seats.

But many Yorkshire seats ARE in jeopardy. Current polls would see both Mike Wood (Batley and Spen) and Linda Riordan( Halifax) in trouble despite 4,000 - 5,000 majorities so all hands on deck are needed . Despite the over-riding concerns which make my election time minimal, I will try and get out there to help both these MPs, even if I can only manage a couple of days. But Ed Balls, I wager, is in no danger whatsoever.