Titley has certainly seen some action in his 20 years service and will be much missed. I fought the 2004 election alongside him on Labour’s NW Euro candidate-list. The count at Manchester Town Hall was also attended by Nick Griffin who exited with his henchmen as soon as he realised they’d flopped miserably.

The 1989 election in which he was elected and 1984 before it were psychological breakthroughs showing we could win national elections despite Westminister preformances. In the same way as how in 05 “Vote Blair, get Brown” as a Tory tactic turned out to be quite attractive to the electorate, the Conservative poster “Don’t Let Kinnock in by the back door” only gave the British voting public. In 94 an even greater number of Labour MEPs were returned for previously unimaginable seats like the now minister Peter Truscott or the maverick North London polytechnic lecturer who later left Labour Hugh Kerr - both in Hertfortshire. At the time I knew both who attributed their success to a John Smith sympathy vote but it paved the way for 1997. In the days of first past the post Labour returned 10/10 MEPs in the north west. Last time we got 3. The was with EPLP folk the day the decision came through from London to switch to PR and they were all justifiably livid - some like the midlands' Christine Oddy subsequently standing as independents. Was this move to apease electoral reform fans a fatal mistake? Can we still abolish the Strasbourg Parliament? Euther way it'll be interesting, with the defection by Sajjad Karim from the Lib Dems to Tories, to see how the NW region pans out electorally next time round.