Answer: They have both played The Invisible Man.

Since his adoption - a year ago- we have scarcely heard from or seen Mr Osborne.

His game plan seems to be that if you don't do anything, you can't be criticised for anything.

Perhaps he is so busy concocting unlikely stories about William Hague's capacity for drink that he has forgotten that he has a constituency to nurse. The good news is that the prospective Labour candidate - Clr Steve Conquest, who was selected last Friday - is a totally different proposition.

He is a vigorous and intelligent young man with a formidable record of service to the community.

You can expect to see a lot of Steve during the run-up to the General Election.

He won't simply write speeches for other people, as Mr Osborne has done during his fallow year.

I suspect that Mr Osborne is counting on the fact that when Martin Bell is (sadly) no longer our MP, he will inherit the 18,000 majority of our disgraced former MP Neil Hamilton.

Is this what the disaffected Tories of Tatton really want?

We have seen how a breath of fresh air can revitalise local politics.

To deny Mr Osborne the chance of a guaranteed 'safe seat' would be a marvellous achievement.

BILL DAVIES

Glebelands Road

Knutsford

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.