IN THE world of politics, there’s cogent and penetrating political critique; and then there’s superficial spin, along with political grandstanding and point-scoring for the sake of it, writes Dr Richard House.

Judging by the content of her prominent social media activity, prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate Siobhan Baillie doth protest far too much – and is still very much in the early stages of learning the difference between the two (see also SNJ letters, January 16).

To be fair, it is early days for Ms Baillie, parachuted into the town as she was from the South East.

And perhaps she also deserves some sympathy, given the nature of the policies of the party she’s representing, as it does leave her with a pretty much impossible hand to play.

Ms Baillie is going to have to learn very quickly indeed what cuts the ice with the people of this great town if she’s to make any electoral headway against our own home-grown heavyweight MP, David Drew, who oozes authenticity and substance without even having to try.

I await the election hustings with great interest and relish, whenever they come: then we’ll see where the substance truly resides.

Dr Richard House

Stroud