IT’S been a good few days for Worcester politician Matthew Lamb, who was joyously told last weekend he’s been selected as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for the Wyre Forest.

Councillor Lamb, a college lecturer very much viewed as a rising star within leftie ranks, is being given the mission of overturning Tory MP Mark Garnier’s 2,643 majority, just as this column revealed was likely to happen three weeks ago.

Funnily enough, during a debate over council tax in a cabinet meeting this week, Coun Lamb said there’s “no such thing as a free lunch”.

If he becomes an MP, his view may change!

* TIMES are tough at Worcestershire County Council, where plans are being drawn up to slash £98m from spending by 2017.

And it’s certainly taking its toll on our leading politicians, who are completely exhausted trying to sort it all out.

Councillor Simon Geraghty, the county council’s deputy leader, decided to skip a city council cabinet meeting on Tuesday, telling The Source he was so knackered from sorting out the shenanigans at County Hall he was going for dinner that evening instead, and who can blame him.

With his city council Tory group deputy leader Coun Marc Bayliss tied up elsewhere, it was left to none other than Francis Lankester to challenge the Labour cabinet, telling them they “lacked ambition” and were full of “doom and gloom”.

Francis was booted out the council in last year’s elections but has been selected as the party’s Cathedral ward candidate in 2014, and is obviously starting his electioneering hideously early.

But if he’s got this much time on his hands, perhaps he could lend Simon a hand?

* THE Source requires further clarification on the impending exit of county council chief executive Trish Haines, purely for amusement.

On Monday she was simply “retiring”, by Tuesday she was taking early retirement by “mutual consent” and by Wednesday, it was on “efficiency grounds”, according to HR boss Kenny Brown.

It’s a long road to May 2014, her anticipated departure month. How many more descriptions are we likely to get by then, please?

* TALKING of Mrs Haines, the county council’s legal expert told Labour councillors this week if they pushed any criticism over her retirement too far, they could breach the Code of Conduct.

But the code clearly doesn’t apply to Labour group leader Coun Peter McDonald anyway. Can anyone remember suicide-gate?