Rowntree pasted

That Dave Rowntree was unable to persuade Marylebone High Street voters to chuck out the Tories in last night's by-election for Westminster City Council was unsurprising. What is surprising in the result is that he only polled 222 - a drop from Labour's lowest polls in the 2006 election in the ward. The good news for Dave, though, is he increased Labour's share of the vote from 14.6% to 16.5%.