Oldham Green ‘a groundbreaker’

BY-ELECTION: The only deaf person to stand in the general election was chosen yesterday as the Green candidate for the Oldham West & Royton by-election.

Green leader Natalie Bennett praised candidate Simon Hart, who contested the same seat in May, as a political “groundbreaker” on disabled rights.

She vowed her party would stand up against “scapegoating” in a campaign which Ukip hopes will be dominated by immigration.

Moat man Hogg floats to top again

LORDING IT: A former Tory MP who infamously claimed £2,200 in expenses for cleaning the moat at his country home yesterday took his seat in the Lords.

Tory grandee Douglas Hogg (pictured), who quit the Commons in 2010 after the expenses scandal, became Lord Hailsham of Kettlethorpe.

The former agriculture minister is among 45 new appointments to the Lords announced by the Prime Minister in August, sparking charges of cronyism.