Labour's Tristram Hunt quitting as MP to head V&A Museum

[LeftishBrit]

3. No; I think he is taking a good job that was offered to him

Being Director of the Victoria and Albert carries a salary of at least £140,000, compared with £75,000 for an MP, and is more secure: although Stoke on Trent Central has so far always returned Labour MPs, the majority hasn't always been huge. And, if the boundary changes go ahead, his is one of the seats that could be abolished or seriously altered. Hunt is unlikely to have a senior cabinet post in the near future, so he may well have decided that he'd prefer a bird in the hand to two in the bush. ETA: his original career was as a historian, so this move makes a certain amount of sense.

I am slightly worried about the constituency, given that UKIP are putting in a huge effort there, and that the turnout in that particular constituency tends to be fairly low even in General Elections, and is likely to be much lower in a by-election. Low turnouts sometimes favour UKIP. I hope we can dodge that bullet.