A short sharp three-week campaign, even before the resigning MP Chris Huhne has been sentenced for perverting the course of justice.

And both coalition parties say they will be throwing the kitchen sink at the contest.

The Liberal Democrats are highlighting tax and jobs as their unique selling point over their Conservative partners.

The gloves are coming off on tax avoidance by millionaires and corporations and Nick Clegg will renew calls for a mansion tax.

There's an acknowledgement that the economic recovery hasn't happened as planned, and a call for more help for those who earn least.

It was Liberal Democrat strategist Chris Rennard who first pointed out an unusual fact about the Eastleigh constituency after the local election results last May.

It is now the only constituency in the country where every local authority councillor, at district and county level, comes from one party.

And that party is the Liberal Democrats.

It's a strange fact, and a sign of the scale of the task ahead of the Conservatives at the Eastleigh by-election.

Even after the bad headlines over MP Chris Huhne's toxic cocktail of marriage break-up and speeding fine charges the Lib Dem vote increased at last May's local elections.

The leader of the Eastleigh Borough Council, Liberal Democrat Keith House, says "We took the last Labour seat in 2011, whilst in government, just after the tuition fees vote, so we're not just a protest vote, far from it."

Mr House points out that analysing the vote for police commissioner in the Eastleigh constituency a Liberal Democrat topped the vote.

He says party members from as far as Oxford and Dorset have been offering to campaign in the Hampshire Town. They see the by-election as a chance to settle scores with Conservatives.

But Keith House denies that Liberal Democrats have capitalised on local opposition to coalition policies.

"I think we've been on message if you look through Liberal Democrat leaflets we've been putting through doors. But we're not afraid to criticise Conservatives. We're much more pro moving forward with investment in infrastructure than them, and it matters to people."

The local council has backed a controversial plan to put £38m into the building of a five star hotel at Hampshire's Cricket Ground, the Ageas Bowl, to provide local jobs.

UKIP's candidate at the last election, Ray Finch, says the economy is key to their pitch to local people.

"My son is 22, he was made redundant two years ago from his apprenticeship but he can't get a job - not stacking shelves at Tesco or anything."

He points out that one of the last big industrial employers in the constituency - the Ford Transit van factory - has taken EU grants and moved production to Turkey.

"It was paid for with our money. We're paying for our jobs to be taken off us and given to Turkey, in what possible way could that make sense?

"Eastleigh was a great manufacturing town, there were jobs and a future for people and now there's nothing.

"A lot of it is tied into immigration, the low skilled jobs are taken, by very nice people generally, from Eastern Europe. They've covered that jobs market. We're starting to lose any form of working class, we have no future unless we change things."

Labour know that the loss of Eastleigh's place as a railway town, and other blue-collar employers like the Pirelli factory, means they have to change their appeal.

Neighbouring Southampton Labour MP John Denham says "Labour is fighting this seat very hard indeed, but this is a tough ask for us. We start with one vote in ten, but we know there are tens of thousands who put their trust in either Liberal Democrats or the Tories and now feel let down."

So what of the scandal that started all this?

Jerry Hall, chairman of Eastleigh Conservative Association, says the Huhne resignation must affect the vote.

"It's being going on for so long now, people feel angry that they've been misled."

The by-election is a grudge match for Conservatives too. Mr Hall believes that however strong the vote for their coalition partners in local elections, people vote differently for an MP.

"Although we're partners in the government I haven't seen any transfer of the love interest locally - we fight for every single vote."

And he's not worried about the challenge from UKIP.

"In all our canvassing and polling UKIP take votes from everybody - it's not a surprise to find a committed local Democrat say they'll vote for UKIP in a general election."

Jerry Hall says no punches will be pulled as Conservatives turn on their coalition partners.

"It's vital that there's a Conservative here - we want to govern alone and shake off the handcuffs of the coalition."

Now the airport is the biggest local employer and the by-election bandwagon will drive down the M3 past new suburban estates.

It should be clear Cameron territory. If he can't take back a seat that once boasted a 10,000 Tory majority, big questions will be asked.

Though Labour admit they're a long shot, Ed Miliband needs to prove his appeal in the South.

And the Huhne scandal seems to have galvanised local Liberal Democrats for the fight. UKIP will stir it up too.

It's a tasty mix.

When it was finally judged the right time to promise an In/Out referendum arrangements were first made to deliver it in Germany.

That would have had the right international ring, but it looked like there would be a clash with other Euro events.

Next it was to be "The Amsterdam" speech - echoes of Maastricht - but it was cancelled so the PM could brief on Algerian terrorism.

What Cameron called a "tantric" delay was becoming too much to bear.

So The Speech was eventually delivered at the City nerve centre for financial information company Bloomberg, in front of the video wall in a modern auditorium.

But does "The Bloomberg Speech" have the right ring for the event?

The Bloomberg name is an Anglicisation of Blumberg, in Yiddish, or German, and the Cameron speech started with some solid historical roots for the European project.

The company is American, set up in the 1980s by Michael Bloomberg, who later became Mayor of New York. So we should recall Britain's role in the wider world away from the continent. But Bloomberg became Mayor as a Republican, after starting out a Democrat.

After the cast-iron guarantee perhaps the Bloomberg moniker IS appropriate to this new referendum promise.

To add continental flavour they served croissants before the speech started, but the coffee was more Manhattan milky than left bank Parisian.

There was an invited audience, including the Finnish ambassador, and politicos from Spain, Portugal and Greece. No-one too surprising, you had to be sure they would clap at the end.

South-East of England Conservative MEP Dan Hannan was there, later claiming the idea of a referendum after negotiation was his own suggestion, to cap the switch away from the EPP in Brussels that he first encouraged Cameron to make.

So the speech had gravitas, but Number 10 wanted to leave room for questions, without allowing the event to turn into an impromptu press conference.

Heavyweight UK broadcast pundits ended up drawing lots to decide who should ask questions at the end. Sky's Adam Boulton picked the winning piece of paper, with Channel Five's Andy Bell, and in the end the PM took more.

The rush to get the speech out, the early start (we were queuing for admission before 07:00 w,ith a strict 07:30 GMT cut off) only gave the referendum announcement longer to sink in. And the cheer Cameron got at Prime Minister's Questions four hours later ensured this was not the anti-climax some predicted.

The Number 10 website later hedged their bets on the speech's title, calling it "The speech at Bloomberg"

Surely too much of a mouthful.

And there is one other problem. There have been Bloomberg speeches before, George Osborne in 2010, Ed Balls during the Labour leadership contest.

So if we cannot call it "The Bloomberg Speech" what should it be? Leave your suggestions below.

For vulnerable adults, though, it's a quality in short-supply.

The Dignity Charter aims to restore a sense of worth, a sense of mutual respect.

Ensuring privacy, autonomy and that individuals are treated the way they wish to be treated.

The Dignity Charter drawn up this week by Reading Borough Council aims to restore a sense of worth, a sense of mutual respect.

Ensuring privacy, autonomy, treating individuals the way they wish to be treated are central to the pledge that carers have been making.

The charter asks caring organisations to commit to 12 specific pledges.

Council officers will monitor them to make sure they are meeting the standards they have promised to keep.

At the launch event Councillor Rose Williams said: "The health, well-being and dignity of vulnerable residents is of the highest priority to the council and this is why this campaign is so important."

Charities for older people are not so sure.

Age UK Berkshire said they welcomed anything that will improve the way older people are treated, in hospital and in care homes.

But director Mike Allen said more money for services would make a difference too, extending the time of caring appointments at home, for example, beyond a 15 minute limit.

There's little spare cash in council coffers, of course. For longer appointments or better regulation.

The Quality Care Commission (CQC) is responsible for inspections. Nationally nearly a third of caring organisations have at least one area of concern.

In Reading it is more like a 10% failure rate, but a spokesperson for the CQC welcomed the dignity charter, saying "People are entitled to receive care which respects their privacy and dignity, promotes their welfare and keeps them safe from harm."

Often providing dignity can be a small thing - speaking to people with respect, knocking before staff enter bedrooms and calling people by their preferred names.

But in a busy, de-personalised world, restoring that dignity is often the most important thing a carer can provide.

Who knew that knitting could also line up alongside the megaphones and placards of a protest rally?

But this week Salisbury Market Place awoke to trees and signs festooned with items knitted and crocheted by hand.

The 1960s-style slogan of Knit 4 Justice is "knit it to the man." Their creations in red wool mock the red tape they claim Wiltshire Council is ignoring.

The campaigners object to the loss of disabled parking spaces as Wiltshire Council plan to create a "European-style piazza" at the centre of the city, claiming the eight spaces in the Guildhall Square are the only places within 250m of the Library, Post Office, and banks.

The council says alternatives will be provided before the spaces are closed, and received more than 100 replies to a public consultation.

Salisbury Area Board chairman Richard Clewer said: "We have worked very hard with local people to come up with a design that fits with their aspirations for the squares.

"The plans include repaving the Market Place with granite and Yorkstone, adding new seating and lighting, and building new disabled toilet facilities."

But Helen Farmer for the protest group said: "This will be a disaster. Other car parks are only accessible by narrow and uneven pavements. It's hard to think of a more idiotic suggestion."

The city has a high proportion of older people. There are 6,000 blue badge holders in the Salisbury area, and there is a legal obligation for councils to provide parking spaces close to essential services.

Instead of a planning application, Wiltshire Council propose to use a traffic regulation order to make the changes.

If they hoped to avoid noisy objections, well then it worked. But the sight of disabled people quietly knitting in protest may be more powerful still.

But the victory of independents sent a clear message from the voters.

But on a low turnout can the newly elected commissioner claim any public support for the promises?

Independents in general have promised to recruit more officers - how can they do that without more money?

That is the real test for these commissioners - not how many people did or did not vote for them - but are they better than the old police authorities at cutting crime, providing reassurance for the public on law and order?

In May 2016 in Hampshire Simon Hayes will be back and the debate about how he has done his job is likely to be much more interesting.

They all agree the priority is to cut crime. Well, forgive me, but what have the police been trying to do all these years?

Perhaps priorities have to change - less time in the station? Patrolling alone rather than in pairs?

At the BBC local radio Thames Valley debate candidates seemed to be in the "don't rock the boat" club.

The Labour man "doesn't want a cozy relationship" with the chief constable. The Conservative conceded he wants "to get performance up to standard". The Lib Dem wanted more respect for young people.

Independents and UKIP have made a good pitch for public antipathy towards any sort of party politician.

In this brand new election there is little for candidates to get their teeth into.

But you can be sure that in four years time when the winner has to defend their record, rival candidates will be at their throat.

And they've got a big job to do - 220 miles of motorway and trunk roads, 253 miles of coastline, and whilst there are no major metropolitan areas, the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth in the south and towns Aldershot and Farnborough in the north see their fair share of serious crime.

Budget cuts mean reductions of 1,300 staff over five years. The headquarters building at Winchester is being sold to help meet £54m savings targets. But the force has the sixth lowest cost per head and is already merging dog units, firearms, roads and training with neighbouring Thames Valley Police.

Closure of rural stations and limited hours of opening have led to some protests. The force covers a wide range of diverse communities including the Isle of Wight and New Forest National Park.

The sheer variety of the policing challenge is demonstrated by two fictional Hampshire detectives, from the country crime tackled on TV by Ruth Rendell's Romsey-based Inspector Wexford to the gritty work of DI Joe Faraday in Graham Hurley's crime novels set in Portsmouth.

Southampton took a real pride in the fact that for 45 years they were produced here, six million made in Britain and transported through the docks to destinations around the world.

But a fall in sales of a fifth saw the number of shifts reduced. MPs sought assurances that that factory would keep going in the face of cheaper production lines in other parts of Europe.

While other parts of the British motor industry are booming it looks like the city that was known for producing RJ Mitchell's Spitfire aircraft will now lose its last iconic production line.

The MP for Romsey and Southampton North said: "I've always had concerns for the future of the factory and it now looks like there will be an announcement tomorrow indicating that it's going to close.

"Obviously this is terrible news for Swaythling and very bad news for Southampton.

"Most of the UK motor manufacturing sector is doing well but unfortunately there's a history of falling sales of Transit vans, I think we've got to do all we can to get these 500 people other jobs within the city."

The Transit used to be everywhere. White van man's transport of choice. Southampton took a real pride in the fact that for 45 years they were produced here, six million sold in Britain and transported through the docks to destinations around the world.

But a fall in sales of a fifth saw the number of shifts reduced. MPs sought assurances that that factory would keep going in the face of cheaper production lines in other parts of Europe.

While other parts of the British motor industry are booming it looks like the city that was known for producing RJ Mitchell's Spitfire aircraft will now lose its last iconic production line.

Mrs Nokes has applied for an emergency debate in the House of Commons: "I grew up knowing Southampton was the Home of the Transit.

"They built the first Transit the year I was born. I think we all need to work together to ensure the best possible future for the people and the site.

"Southampton is a driver of the regional economy and losing 500 jobs will be very difficult indeed."

Labour leader of Southampton City Council Richard Williams says the suggestion comes completely out of the blue.

He is backing plans for extra support, saying "We want to help those workers affected as much as possible. As a council we will work with Job Centre Plus and other local agencies to form a task force to help employees find alternative work.

"A similar approach was taken earlier this year when British Gas made 500 call centre workers redundant, and the vast majority have since been found new roles."

And they've got a big job to do - 220 miles of motorway and trunk roads, 253 miles of coastline, and whilst there are no major metropolitan areas, the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth in the south and towns Aldershot and Farnborough in the north see their fair share of serious crime.

Budget cuts mean reductions of 1,300 staff over five years. The headquarters building at Winchester is being sold to help meet £54m savings targets. But the force has the sixth lowest cost per head and is already merging dog units, firearms, roads and training with neighbouring Thames Valley Police.

Closure of rural stations and limited hours of opening have led to some protests. The force covers a wide range of diverse communities including the Isle of Wight and New Forest National Park.

The sheer variety of the policing challenge is demonstrated by two fictional Hampshire detectives, from the country crime tackled on TV by Ruth Rendell's Romsey-based Inspector Wexford to the gritty work of DI Joe Faraday in Graham Hurley's crime novels set in Portsmouth.

Professor AbuBakr Bahaj of Southampton University is intending to blaze a trail for science and engineering in his link up with the local authority.

He believes that it is a crucial time for science to play a role in local life.

"Our aim will be focused on tackling future challenges encountered within cities, such as how a city could operate under a changing climate and resource depletion and the environmental, social and economic impacts of these changes."

Council leader Dr Richard Williams said: "Excellence in science and engineering is critical to Southampton's prosperity and well-being.

"His role will be crucial in the future development of the city."

One of the first areas where Professor Bahaj will contribute to the council's policies is in green building development.

He is head of the Energy and Climate Change Research Division at the university and will provide the council with expertise on the energy efficiency of new buildings.

Decisions have to be made on whether to retain and 'greenwall' existing housing stock to improve thermal efficiency.

The idea has also been welcomed by the national chief scientific adviser, Professor Sir John Beddington.

He said: "The role of science and engineering in society and the economy is more important than ever.

"And Professor Bahaj will have a key role ensuring that policy makers in the local authority take decisions that make best use of scientific and engineering advances and evidence."

Liverpool City Council started running turnaround cruises from a temporary terminal at the end of May.

This was despite the UK government saying they should wait until Europe had agreed issues over state-funding.

Nearly £20 million was given to Liverpool on condition that the city didn't compete with existing operators in the North East and South of England.

The commissioner makes clear his displeasure at the move, saying in reply to a question by UKIP's MEP Marta Andreasen:

"The Commission has taken note of the press coverage on the City of Liverpool Cruise Terminal being used for turnaround cruises as of 29 May, 2012.

"The Commission is in contact with the United Kingdom authorities and has reminded them of their obligation to comply with EU state aid rules.

"As far as the ERDF funding is concerned, the Commission has written to the United Kingdom authorities requesting information to assess the change in use of the terminal in terms of its compliance with Article 30.4 of Council Regulation (EC) N° 1260/1999.

"Should the conditions of the ERDF initial grant offer letter no longer be complied with, a recovery of the ERDF grant might be necessary."

The move comes on the day P&O celebrates 175 years with a record seven ships departing from Southampton Port.

With 15,000 people leaving and boarding ships in one day it is the busiest day in the port's history. Many in Liverpool say they deserve a share of the booming cruise market, and could provide a more convenient departure point for people living in the Midlands and North of England.

But with most cruises heading South for the sunshine Southampton counters by pointing to the extra fuel and time involved in a more Northern departure.

And they say Liverpool Council has shown it never intended to stick to rules on funding, by pressing ahead with cruises before permission has been given.

What do you think? Should there be more choice in the cruise market? Do state subsidies really mean Liverpool has an unfair advantage?

Leave your comments below.

It's not yet clear who will lead the review of how banks were able to fiddle their own lending rates but it will be independent, and will report before the end of summer, with the possibility of new criminal sanctions either for individuals or institutions.

That falls short of the Leveson-style inquiry demanded by Labour but is an advance on what the chancellor pledged in his initial reaction to the Barclays fine.

While the governor of the Bank of England insists the job in hand should be starting the process of reform rather than costly and lengthy enquiries, it is clear the political agenda is being driven by the public appetite for a day of reckoning for Britain's banking industry.

After days of negotiations to obtain the perfect panel, plans are thrown into confusion. Every alternative guest realises they're being called at the last minute.

But the MP for Portsmouth South Mike Hancock had good reason for making that call last week. Open heart surgery may be a slightly less appealing option than being interviewed by me on the Sunday Politics, but it was clear which one was most necessary.

He had been looking peaky for a little while, and many people knew he had been suffering from angina. But even Mike refused to accept the seriousness of his situation at first.

Speaking from his bed in Portsmouth's Queen Alexandra Hospital, Mike told me he had discharged himself against doctors' orders after the first set of tests at the start of the week. He says he was keen to attend various appointments in his busy diary.

But at 66, the Liberal Democrat who has been at odds with his own leadership and faced sensational newspaper headlines and complex legal inquiries into all areas of his personal life, now has to submit to the inevitable and take it easy for at least two months.

And when he gets the chance to take a bit of perspective on it all, will he want to keep on fighting for all those causes that he believes in, to the detriment of his own health?

In short, will he resign, or carry on to the next election?

We may get a clue when I talk to the man who has agreed to stand in for him on Sunday's programme. The leader of Portsmouth City Council, Gerald Vernon-Jackson, has long been regarded as the man lining up to step into Mike's shoes.

It may be too early for him to declare his candidacy. Or perhaps he might be worried about winding Mike up, persuading him to soldier on, because there's nothing Mike Hancock likes more than a good scrap.

And just as in politics he has fought for everything he disagreed with or believed in, you can be sure he will use all his energy to fight this illness.

So the Guardian's serialisation of Alastair Campbell's diaries produces a storm, but has it really told us any more about the influence of the press on public policy? Or where the line should be drawn in deciding what is undue influence?

The entry for 11 March 2003 recalls that Tony Blair was irritated by the call. He saw it as part of pressure from Republicans in Washington. Campbell concludes it is "over-crude lobbying".

But many would argue, in its leading articles and opinion columns, that is a newspapers' stock-in-trade.

Where it would cross the line is if Murdoch had asked for commercial advantage - something he denies in the memorable phrase "I never asked a prime minister for anything".

Labour supporters chanted "thirty, thirty" - the number of seats they won - up from 19 last time.

It was more than just reaction to the industrial action over pay cuts imposed on council staff and more than just about mid-term government unpopularity.

Ed Miliband launched his local election campaign in Southampton and with visits to the city put his reputation on the line.

With this result, he will be more than pleased that he did. With further Labour success in Reading, Rushmoor and Basingstoke he can genuinely claim to be making progress in the South.

And more than a few in the South are getting their ears bent over the Budget, in particular 'the granny tax'.

Christchurch in Dorset has the highest proportion of retired voters in the country.

The Conservative MP Chris Chope is concerned not just about the electoral damage but the change of principle he sees in the changes to the tax system that the Chancellor introduced as a "simplification".

Mr Chope points out that he has also been opposed to changes that affect child benefit, and he's considering pulling both threads together if he proposes amendments to the Finance Bill when MPs return to the Commons.

"Underlying all this there is a big issue of principle," he says.

"Should we recognise in the tax and benefit system that some people have got higher costs than others?"

He points out that both the child allowance and age related benefits were introduced before the Second World War.

"Are we really going to remove these long-established policies which have enjoyed consensus across all the political parties for so long?

"Are we going to tear those up without having a proper debate about it?"

In other constituencies than Christchurch perhaps the issue would not have the same resonance.

But here people have the time to campaign against things they don't like. And a life time of filling in tax returns has left them very savvy to changes.

On the sun-drenched golf courses of the the south coast they're already annoyed at the way their savings have been undermined by the Bank of England's policy of quantitative easing.

In Westminster that may be a policy few people are talking about, but in Christchurch Chris Chope says he's got the message.

"I speak to lots of pensioners in my constituency and they would say that times are pretty tough when the return on your savings is virtually zero.

"The pensioners who have put money aside for their retirement are finding that they're getting virtually no interest."

At least one MP will return to Parliament determined to press the case for the older generation.

The Liberal Democrat leader of Portsmouth Council has called for a ban on new orders being given to Glasgow shipyards until after a referendum on independence.

Gerald Vernon-Jackson said it would be "really stupid" to award contracts for British ships that might be built outside Britain.

Portsmouth is currently co-operating with Scottish yards to produce new aircraft carriers, but use of the English yard is under review by defence company BAE Systems.

Labour has criticised the decision to build new Fleet auxiliary tankers in South Korea.

Their Defence spokesman Jim Murphy backed the Portsmouth call, saying if an independence vote was successful "Scotland would be a foreign country to the Royal Navy".

But David Willetts, who is Conservative MP for Havant, and the cabinet minister for Universities and Science, said that was the wrong way to approach the devolution debate.

On the Sunday Politics he told me "this is a very dangerous way to approach the referendum. We don't want English vs Scots, we mustn't start playing one off against another."

Mike Hancock, the Lib Dem MP for Portsmouth South agreed that comparisons were unhelpful, but argued it was difficult to make decisions about shipbuilding contracts with the "unknown factor" of the referendum.

For the SNP Stewart Maxwell has attacked the loss of 5,000 jobs at yards on the Clyde, saying it was the fault of politicians based in London.

"Clyde Yards win orders because of the excellence of workers," he said.

"The idea that you should stop them bidding for orders is ludicrous.

"This is just frightening ship building workers into voting no in case they lose their jobs."

But Labour's Jim Murphy, also from Scotland, said: "The Royal Navy has never built a warship outside the UK. We need this conversation before the referendum; the SNP has not got an answer."