Kevin Fitzpatrick

He's saying he would be fully committed to Makerfield.

And to be fair to him, he does know the patch.

It's not like he's been dropped in and he's trying to catch up and work out what the local issues are.

And I mentioned antisocial behaviour.

Clearly, as Police and Crime Commissioner, he's got an understanding of what's been done to try and address that.

With the flooding issues, as Mayor, he's been involved in the campaign to try and get more investment for flood defences.

So he does know the patch, but...

He can't deny that clearly the elephant in the room is that everybody knows he would love to be prime minister.

And he said again this morning, I can't deny, you know, I've always intended to hopefully return to Westminster one day.

He's not been as clear as he's making out now, I don't think, over the years.

I think the first couple of terms as mayor, he was adamant that this was where he wanted to be.

And you'd really have to persuade him hard to get him back to Westminster.

But now he's convinced that the country isn't working well.

Labour in government isn't working in his view.

And he clearly thinks he's got some part to play.

Could he get back to Parliament?

No, and that would be really interesting.

He doesn't have to resign until he wins, if he wins.

But then there would be a huge by-election here, it has to be said, because the winds of political change have swept in that two years since he won his third mayoral term.

In that election, he won in every single council seat apart from one where Labour hadn't stood a candidate.