Just listen to Nick Robinson on his return from holiday

Yesterday I suggested that the West Yorkshire seat of Morley & Outwood might be good for a speculative punt because this had the makings of being the sensation of election night – a bit like Michael Portillo’s defeat at the 1997 general election.

This, of course, is the new seat that Ed Balls will be fighting and on the face of it there is a pretty solid Labour majority. But could “Smeargate” and Ed’s alleged relationship with Damien McBride affect things on the ground?

Last week Balls appeared on Radio 4’s Today programme playing down his relationship with McBride. This was Robinson’s response on his first day back after his Easter break.

We are indeed in extraordinary times when the Political Editor of the British Broadcasting Corporation should raise so many questions over the words of a leading cabinet minister who is being tipped as next Labour leader

It’s worth reminding ourselves yet again that with the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s it was the cover-up and not the actual act that brought Nixon down.