Voting for Respect was a smart thing to do

Have I finally had a complete mental breakdown ? Not yet.

What I mean here is that a whole load of groups represented within the Bradford West communities have suddenly got the ear of the Labour party in a way they would never have done had they returned the Labour candidate (Who you have to feel a little sympathy for - he must have thought he was a shoe in - fantasised about joining the house for the first time to the cheers of the Labour benches and the pat on the back from Ed Miliband as he walked by. Now he's in the by-election failure bin to forever wonder what might have been. Tough. ) to Westminster.

In a world where political party leaders despise their own parties most, and the people those parties send to Westminster next - preferring old chums from Oxford days to the elected representatives of the people - it makes sense to bowl the odd googly at Westminster.

Other minor parties should be cooking up their plans to take advantage of this new found wisdom in the electorate.