I'm with you

Aye. I'll set something up and chuck another £20 in.

So what is the Poolie Pride MP hoping to achieve?

Show me a business plan or let us meet up and discuss what we hope to achieve and how we intend to do it and I might chuck a few quid in too.

You can rest assured whatever is decided it will get plenty of coverage in Monkey Business.

Ooh Listen her... Business plan?

We need a manifesto and a schedule of events. To do this Ripper is right in one respect, it does need a business plan of sorts. We can't go into it willy nilly it has to be thought through and planned to the utmost level. Even though the main issues are local the candidate will need to be very well briefed on all the other main national issues otherwise he'll end up looking daft. We are up against the publicity machines of the main parties and they have a lot of experience.

Make no mistake, we can win this but only if we have a clear message, it is planned meticulously and we have a lot of publicity on side.

Do you seriously think it can be won? Don't labour normally get 17 000 votes. Or somewhere near?

Labour had a 7'400 majority at the 2005 election and only 2000 at the by election. I think the days of people voting Labour for no other reason that a lack of thought are drawing to a close.

The hospital is a big big issue. For sure its going to take a miracle to oust a Labour MP round Hartlepool way but the people in this town are very parochial when it comes to the town. The people on this board have the knowledge and skills to motivate a fair proportion of the electorate - When we released the 'Poolie Pride' CD we depended on one single factor; that the people of Hartlepool are immensely proud of the place and will support anything that defends it or promotes it.

The key thing is to get the media involved, this is a hugely newsworthy story and if handled right then a lot of capital can be made from it. We have three journos on this board that I'm aware of, their knowledge of the workings of the papers would be invaluable.

For a town like Hartlepool not to have a hospital is a disgrace. This MP has sold himself out for the benefit of his career rather than backing the people he proports to represent. He has kept quiet in the main and found himself promoted in the new goverment - coincidence? Not a chance.

If we can put together a team of people to work on this then it can be done - ask Mr Drummond.

Think Martin Bell. He stood as an Independent up in Lancashire and won with a good campaign. After Hartlepool being used as a Labour Party sinecure for so many years (and have we had a proper one since Ted Leadbetter??), having had all sorts of Bliarite puppets foisted on them and little positive done for the town, maybe , just maybe, the Hartlepool public are ready to show their mettle, eh??

Excuse me, but I want me fkin bin emptied every week aswell.

And I want somebody to remind the dicks down in London that in order for public transport to work then they need to provide us with some, ie. trains that don't terminate at that centre of culture known as Thornaby or which run after eight at night.

And tell 'em that we still wanna be able to smack / belt our kids if we feel that way out.

How serious are you?

You would have to be "on hand" for a good couple of months running up to the election, i.e. no poncing off to some oil rig every couple of weeks.

Will you be working in a job where you are "available" to canvass and be put in the public eye?

Are you serious enough to quit your job to fight the election?

That's cool Mr Offshore.

It's just important that if we are to do this we do it properly and fully serious.

I'm all for giving as much support as I can but I'm not prepared to get involved and waste my time if it is a half-arsed effort which is doomed to failure.

Let's get this show on the road eh!

I agree Mr A, his contacts and influence were top class. Do you lot think the EC money was a coincidence?

What Elvis Costello money was that like?

Can we try and keep this serious please.

What timescale are we talking about here? When can the next General Election be called, could it still be a couple of years away?