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Is by-election fever about to hit the North East?

The hares have been set running by an article on the web today.

that David Miliband has accepted the role as the EU's Foreign Representative triggering a possible by-election in South Shields in the New Year.

An announcement, the article says, will follow within a fortnight.

As it has been on this blog, the name Mandelson has been linked to the possible vacancy.

But don't clear your diaries just yet.

When I rang the Foreign Office they categorically denied he'd accepted the job.

Of course that doesn't mean he might not be offered and accept it in the future.

For the moment though the voters of South Shields can contain their excitement!

But It does seem that as fast as .

But what about his Labour leadership aspirations?

He's by no means sure of enough support to win that race in any case.

And if Labour does face a heavy defeat, he may not want to be Labour's equivalent of William Hague (although he might like the income that followed after he resigned as leader).

Instead, he could become the returning hero in a few years' time.

The question is, would the Labour party forgive him for heading into the Brussels sunset just when they need their big hitters to fight the Tories?

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