YORK Tory parliamentary hopeful Clive Booth could have been forgiven for expecting a rough ride when he recently went canvassing in Tang Hall, an area not noted for its true blue allegiance.

And when a policeman jokingly said he'd be "lynched" if he went down Bad Bargain Lane, a lesser man might have thought again about spreading the Conservative Euro message to the east York electorate.

But Clive - who has since launched York Against Drugs, partly in response to conversations with residents that day - is made of sterner stuff. He brushed off such fears and continued canvassing.

"In no way at all did I feel intimidated about Bad Bargain Lane," Clive told the Diary. "It's a nice street and the people I met were lovely."

He added: "I think the police were saying, anecdotally, that there are some areas in York where York Conservatives should not go.

"I challenged that and can state Bad Bargain Lane is not one of those streets."

Anyone got any other suggestions?

STILL with politics, it's been kissy-kissy time at the Commons.

York MP Hugh Bayley has done sterling work in the Commons to ensure that transsexuals do not lose their pension rights.

Fellow Blairite and junior minister Maria Eagle was so impressed with our Hugh's prowess she couldn't contain herself.

"His ability to answer so many questions shows how deeply he has thought about an issue which, although it arose from a constituency case, is replicated around the country, albeit in only a small number of instances," she trembled.

"The speed and depth of his responses demonstrate that he has examined the

matter closely, and his amendments tabled in committee and on report make it clear that he is not a bad parliamentary draftsman either."

Blimey. So why was Hugh sacked as a junior social security minister in 2001?

YOU may not have noticed, but there's an election on. For the European Parliament..? Gravy trains, daft directives... ring any bells?

Anyway, business must be booming for sex shop owner Julia Gash, who is standing as a Liberal Democrat candidate for the Yorkshire and the Humber region in the June 10 postal vote. According to the latest Electoral Commission register of political donations, she gave the party £1,700 in the first three months of this year.

Products on sale on her internet site - gash.co.uk - include nurse lingerie sets, Chinese love balls, harnesses and handcuffs. If she gets elected she'll have Brussels in bondage in no time.

An altogether more sober donation to the Lib Dems came from York's Joseph

Rowntree Trust, which handed over £125,000.

NEVER mind all those gee whizz statistics about the latest 49 metre high, 1,000 tonne crane which York-based Shepherd Construction took two days to assemble over its £15.5 million "City Square" contract at the heart of Liverpool's business district.

More wondrous still - how did the tough builder in our picture, right, develop neck muscles powerful enough to lift it all?

Updated: 09:29 Monday, May 31, 2004