After the surprising news that his local constituency association executive had decided to deselect him after 37 years as an MP – and one of the most dedicated constituency MPs in the House – it turns out that they were even more stupid than I thought:

The vote which would have ousted veteran Tory MP Sir Patrick Cormack has been declared null and void.

David Billson, chairman of Staffs South Conservatives, said there had been a “clerical error” and a fresh vote would be held in the next two or three weeks.

It follows claims there were more votes cast than people present at a meeting last week to decide the MP’s future.