Liverpool Labour councillor Louise Badock is bidding to become an MP for her hometown of Stockton.

Cllr Baldock has represented the Kensington and Fairfield ward in Liverpool since 2006, and is up for re-election in 2014. She is currently the chair of the finance and resources select committee.

As a former member of Labour's National Executive Committee you'd have thought she stands a good chance of landing the nomination for the Stockton South seat.

You can check out Cllr Baldock's campaign website HERE and her Facebook site HERE.

There is quite a bit of talk of late, suggesting that Labour Party leadership should conduct behind-the-scenes talks with the Liberal Democrats about the possibility of having a coalition Government with them post-2015.

Frankly - I think a coalition between the Labour Party and the Lib Dems would be a travesty.

Another five year coalition may keep the media and political heavyweights excited, but the public do not have faith or trust in politicians as it is.

It wouldn't be a year on Liverpool council without another defection.

Rosie Jolly is the latest to jump ship from the Liberal Democrats to Labour. It was hardly a surprise and indeed I predicted it in March.

It's always fun to see the emails that are sent between the defector and the party they are leaving, here they are:

Labour councillor Kevin Bennett faces his day of reckoning after breaking the party whip and voting against cuts at Warrington council.

He has a disciplinary hearing at Warrington town hall tonight, and the Labour party whips are recommending indefinite suspension.

Ahead of the hearing Cllr Bennett said: "Over the last few years, I have faced wrongful allegations made against me; intimidation, bullying and I have not been allowed a voice within the confines of the Labour Group. Democracy has 'died a death' in the Warrington Labour Group".

Click HERE to read Cllr Bennett's explanation of why he voted against the cuts.

IF THERE'S one man who gets up mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson's nose more than local government secretary Eric Pickles (and Mr Brocklebank himself), it must surely be former Walton MP - and Labour colleague, no less - Peter Kilfoyle.

The spirit of fraternity between the two is long dead, and soured during the 2010 general election when Kilfoyle hit out at the nomination of "student politician" Luciana Berger for the Wavertree seat and Joe responded by saying some people (though not him of course) thought Peter was "past his sell by date".

But Kilfoyle's retort of "I'm glad Joe's defending me - just like I defend him against people who say he's incompetent" probably landed the "Killer" blow on their relationship, or what there was of it in the first place.

For me the Bedroom Tax is the defining issue of the last 20 years. It is the most important - and damaging - change that our people have been asked to stomach in two decades.

I am humbled to have received the support from every member of the Labour Group in Liverpool to take forward a campaign against this pernicious change to Housing Benefit legislation.

They have put their own money into funding a Labour Grassroots campaign that we are delivering not just in Liverpool but across the country.

Warrington Labour Cllr Kevin Bennett faces expulsion from the party after defying the whip and voting against the cuts last night.

Here he explains his decision:

I expressed my views on what I believe to be the views of many people, on having to implement cuts which are not of our making. It is wrong that we should be in the firing line when all of this is a result of vicious funding cuts by this Tory led coalition government.

How on earth are we going to maintain these level of cuts is beyond me, especially when Cllr Russ Bowden (Executive member of Corporate Resources and Assignments) has said 'we are scraping the bottom of the barrel' with the cuts this year.

LIVERPOOL Labour party member Theresa Griffin has been selected to fight the European election in 2014.

Ms Griffin narrowly missed out on a seat in 2009 as the number three on the Labour party list - when Nick Griffin sneaked a seat for the BNP.

Next year Arlene McCarthy will top the Labour list, but the other sitting MEP Brian Simpson is retiring. Opening the prospect for Ms Griffin to be second on the list and secure another Merseyside MEP.

One-party state Knowsley council has lost an employment tribunal for sacking a careers advisor who dared to speak to the press.

Kevin Robinson agreed to do an television interview about the long-awaited regeneration of Kirkby back in April 2011.

The 65-year-old said he made the comments - about a lack of good quality jobs and the number of empty shops in the town - in a personal capacity.

But Knowsley council chiefs immediately suspended him and he was dismissed for gross misconduct in March 2012.

It is 50 years since former British prime minister and Merseyside MP Harold Wilson became leader of the Labour party.

He represented the Ormskirk and Huyton constituencies in his 31 years in Parliament, was brought up in the region and attended Wirral grammar school.

Wilson became leader of the Labour party on February 14, 1963.

My colleague Marc Waddington was having a look through the ECHO's picture archive and came across this picture from 1983.