Malone alone again

Alumnus to be proud of No 149 achieved the worst Conservative result of the year - possibly a greater achievement in 1997 than any other year this century. Gerald Malone, twice loser of Winchester, contrived a swing of just under 26 per cent from his party to the Liberal Democrats across the general election and last week's replay. Mr Malone may have learned how to be so popular as a law student at Glasgow University.

But this is not the first time the electors have scorned him. When he lost Aberdeen South in 1987, Mr Malone took refuge as director of European Affairs for Harvard's Energy and Environmental Policy Center.