Over the last 24 hours, Claire Curtis-Thomas, the Labour MP for Crosby since 1997, has announced her intention to quit at the general election.
After boundary changes her seat is renamed Sefton Central and is 117 on the Tory target list (based on the Rallings and Thrasher figures) - and as we have been reminded during the conference, the Conservatives need to gain 117 seats to win an overall majority in the Commons.
A Conservative candidate has been in place since August 2006 in the form of former radio and TV presenter Debi Jones (pictured), who fought Crosby in 2005 and has been a local councillor since 2006.
Here at the conference in Manchester, Debi gave me her reaction to the news:
"It does not come as a great surprise that Ms Curtis-Thomas is standing down. I wish her well in her future endeavours. She has done her best for this constituency over the past 12 years, but it is now time for change. Labour will choose a new candidate, but they will still have to serve up Gordon Brown's failing policies that have brought this country to its kness and saddled every one of us with massive debt. The fact she is standing down speaks volumes."
Last week, Labour MP Barbara Follett announced her intention to stand down at the general election.
Jonathan Isaby
