Labour completed their selection for Newcastle North on Saturday, but of course there are still more selections to come.

Solicitor Catherine McKinnell was picked by the local party to fight a seat currently held by former minister Doug Henderson.

The 33-year-old was born and bred in Newcastle, and still works for a law firm in the North East. It was an all-women shortlist.

She now has to get her campaign up and running straight away, as Newcastle North is one of the Lib Dems' top targets in the region.

Their candidate Ron Beadle has been working on gaining support for some time, and of course the area has lots of voters who've supported the Lib Dems in the city council elections.

I suspect they'd prefer to be still fighting Doug Henderson though, as his second job with McDonalds created some dicey headlines.

Darlington selects next weekend, and of course the party in Tyneside North will also need to begin the process of selecting a replacement for Stephen Byers soon.

-----------

Interesting debate on the Politics Show on the Welsh Proact scheme and whether or not it provides any pointers to a way of saving jobs in the North East and Cumbria.

Much of the focus was on the threat to the Corus steelworks in Redcar.

Its future is reaching a critical point as there are only orders to the end of the year.

But I understand there are negotiations going on at the moment to find work for the New Year, and potentially a buyer.

600 jobs depend on it, and the mood music from the firm's Indian owner Tata isn't good.

They say Redcar was responsible for around a third of the losses in their European steel division in the last six months.

Without a solution, the mothballing of the plant will happen.

And nobody believes that it will be possible to reopen the blast furnace at the site if it gets shut down.

The Moss Week:

Laughing at: Stewart Lee. Watched the comedian in Newcastle this week. Some edgy stuff, and fans of Top Gear are probably advised to avoid.

Reading: The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. A big wodge of book, it should keep me out of trouble 'til close to Christmas.

In mourning for: Jedward. Their hopes of winning the X Factor have been dashed. Mind you it might have helped if I'd ever bothered to actually vote for them.

• Bookmark with:
• del.icio.us |
• Digg |
• Newsvine |
• NowPublic |
• Reddit
• - What's this?

Back from Wales, and full of cold.

But also struck by the admiration in the country for their First Minister Rhodri Morgan.

I was interviewing him in the Welsh Assembly building about his government's ProAct scheme.

It will be one of his last interviews as First Minister. Voting for his successor ends today, the victor will be announed on Tuesday, so after a handover period he will be leaving the post.

Of course, politicians are always more likely to get praised when they're on the way out - remember the ovation for Tony Blair at his last PMQs?

But the warmth towards the man in Wales' top job does seem to be genuine.

The MD of a company I visited in Llantrisant said he was astounded by his knowledge of the firm when he visited.

And the steel unions and managers in Port Talbot talk about the open access you get to him and his expertise and passion.

Would that many of our other politicians could get such rave reviews.

You can see a small slice of my interview with him and hear more about the help the Welsh are giving to their manufacturing businesses on the Politics Show this Sunday.

Some news on a few aspiring politicians to wrap up too though.

You probably know by now - especially if you follow me on Twitter - that Labour picked Michael Boaden as its candidate for Carlisle.

The city council's Labour group leader stood in Penrith and the Border in the last two elections. He now has a fight on his hands in a seat that boundary changes have made more marginal.

And Labour's shortlist for Darlington is also out.

There's two local candidates - union official and Ferryhill town councillor Pat McCourt and Darlington borough councillor Jenny Chapman.

The other two who've made it through are based in London but have North East links.

Dan Whittle, who's worked for the Swindon MP Anne Snelgrove, once reported for BBC Newcastle, (I confess I don't remember him but that's more a reflection on my memory!)

And Ashton McGregor, who works as a manager for the Metropolitan Police, grew up in Yarm.

Selection is on December 5.

This weekend sees Labour select in Newcastle North (Doug Henderson's seat). It's an all-women shortlist.

And Durham North West Labour party have given up the ghost in their fight against an all-woman shortlist in their constituency.

So no new sinecure for Lord Mandelson there!

• Bookmark with:
• del.icio.us |
• Digg |
• Newsvine |
• NowPublic |
• Reddit
• - What's this?

There are many things you might like about Wales - its fantastic beaches, its rugby history, even Dame Shirley Bassey.

But there's something else that's getting some admiring looks from England.

It's called the ProAct scheme.

I've come to South Wales to find out more about it.

I'm writing from my hotel room in Cardiff (no trouser press, but TWO packs of Clotted Cream shortbread since you ask).

It's the first stop in my tour because just a few minutes walk from here is the organisation behind ProAct.

It is the Welsh Assembly Government, and ProAct is its attempt to help the country's manufacturing businesses through the Recession.

This is how it works.

A company that needs help applies to the scheme.

If successful, they can qualify for two types of help.

They can get up to £2,000 per worker for training, and another £2,000 per staff member to subsidise wages.

That help can keep the company afloat, and prevent redundancies.

And the training element ensures its workers have up-to-date skills to help the company compete for new business when the recovery kicks in.

The Welsh Assembly Government says so far it's helped to safeguard more than 7,000 jobs in around 140 companies.

The cost to date is £19m but the Welsh say that's worth it to keep people off the dole and to protect the country's economy.

And the trades unions in England agree.

At this year's Labour Conference, I heard them constantly singing its praises and asking the UK Government to look at something similar.

So far though there's no English equivalent.

Although the Government has put money into training, it has refused to subsidise wages.

And in the North East, the lack of a ProAct equivalent has rankled with workers at Redcar's steel plant in particular.

The Welsh have used the scheme to put more than £1m into the steelworks in Port Talbot.

It would be naive to say that's transformed its fortunes, but Corus and the unions say it is welcome help.

But workers in Teesside say the UK Government has not shown the same willingness to help out in Redcar.

There'll be more about this in the Politics Show on Sunday.

But I'm off now to interview the Welsh First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, before heading off to the steelworks in Port Talbot, and a company in Llantrisant which says ProAct has made a huge difference.

By the way if you're curious about the awards ceremony I went to yesterday - the full list of winners is here.

Slight disappointment for all that Joanna Lumley couldn't make it to pick up her prize. (Curiously Barack Obama also failed to turn up).

But amongst those there was Jane Asher, although I've yet to work out why.

The top award was probably that given to the Rev Ian Paisley for lifetime achievement - who'd have thought that would have happened a decade ago.

One curious decision though. There was no award for Politician of the Year.

The idea was that nobody deserved the prize in this year of expenses shame, but surely there was one politician somewhere who deserved some recognition?

Perhaps you can give me your nominations. I promise I won't veto any for Lord Mandelson!

• Bookmark with:
• del.icio.us |
• Digg |
• Newsvine |
• NowPublic |
• Reddit
• - What's this?