* IT’S been a hairy couple of weeks for Councillor Jabba Riaz, who crossed the Rubicon in spectacular style by quitting Worcester’s Tory group to join Labour.

And with a new political roadmap ahead comes a new haircut, with the rightie-turned-leftie spotted at a barbers in London Road last week getting a short back and sides.

It was there that he bumped into former Worcester MP Mike Foster, who by coincidence was also having his hair trimmed.

Foster told his new colleague that amid the raft of hurtful comments aimed at Coun Riaz by the keyboard warriors on our website, one saying he was a “useless bowler” would have caused him the most pain.

For those not in the know, our new Labour man is cricket mad, and made headlines in the Worcester News last year after breaking his finger playing for the Old Vigornians in the Worcestershire League.

Owzat!

* TALKING of Mike Foster, life after New Labour isn’t proving as glamorous as some people would have you believe.

Whereas some of his old party colleagues are making megabucks on after-dinner speeches (Blair), advising the World Economic Forum (Brown) or filling up their diaries with TV appearances (Blunkett), Worcester’s man-of-the-hour isn’t living the high life.

Foster is now chief executive of the Energy and Utilities Alliance, and sent out a press release to MPs this week urging them to publicise National Radiator Day, which as it so happens is today.

It asks MPs to post images of themselves on Twitter bleeding a radiator, and includes rank tips on “flushing the sludge” to keep them working properly.

But it has raised a chuckle among our parliamentarians, who are now surely fearing their careers could well go the same bleedin’ way once the electorate decides their time is up. Or if they retire, as one of ours is.

As one MP puts it: “How the mighty are fallen - but he’s probably doing more good than many MPs.”

Walker, Luff, Baldwin, beware.

* FARCICAL scenes within UKIP’s ranks this week, with West Midlands MEP Mike Nattrass managing to convince three activists in Worcester to quit and join him in launching a new party.

Mr Nattrass, a smooth talking veteran with the Midas touch, has recruited a former UKIP treasurer, chairman and vice-chairman to launch ‘An Independence Party’, which one can only presume is even uglier than UKIP, if indeed that were possible.

I see it’s meeting at The Old Cock Inn in Droitwich on Thursday. I'm saying no more.