Spare a thought for Shirley Bowes, who, amid all the post-poll propaganda, got somewhat overlooked but brought a brief smile to the face of Tony Blair on a bad night - and morning - for Labour in England.

Ms Bowes, a Tory candidate, stood in the Prime Minister's home ward in County Durham but pulled off the remarkable political feat of failing to pick up a single vote.

Sad to say, the would-be Conservative councillor could not even vote for herself as she does not live in the New Trimdon and Trimdon Grange ward but in nearby Stockton-on-Tees. However, one has to ask, what happened to those 10 local people who had to nominate Ms Bowes to make her eligible to stand in the first place?

12:01am Saturday 5th May 2007

By MICHAEL SETTLE, Chief UK Political Correspondent

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