Following a visceral reaction to his NPRM, it seems that Wheeler has had less interest in trying to thread a needle that has no eye, aiming to pick up a constituency in the middle that doesn't precisely exist.
An obvious solution to an annual problem: get some kids to make Christmas cards as part of a constituency-wide competition, pick a winner, print 40,000 copies and avoid all possible criticism.
Internal papers show that a new selections panel headed by Ian McCartney, the chairman of the national executive committee, will draw up shortlists of approved candidates from which local constituency parties will be required to pick a standard-bearer at meetings.
At the constituency level, you do exactly what Jack Straw wants: you pick a local MP by numbering your preferences.
Picking a Scot representing an English constituency for the shadow post would further damage the Tories' credibility with voters north of the border.In any case, most Scottish Tories now think it is about time they started picking their own leader.
Much of the talk has focused on how the governor may try to satisfy one constituency or another by picking a Latino or a woman or someone from upstate.
Last month the Scottish National Party SNPpickedked a Muslim activist to fight the Westminster constituency of Glasgow Central.
