THE DAILY POLITICS If John Prescott's not doing a government job, if he's not running a department, the salary and the perks are profoundly wrong. Clare Short Latest show Subscribe to our streams Need help?

1130 We've got "ample time" for today's programme - and, unlike some, we here at the Daily Politics are not afraid to set the timetable. With us to ensure a "stable and orderly transition" through today's programme are our very own outriders: former Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine and the former Labour cabinet minister Clare Short.

1136 If you've failed in any record breaking attempts this week, here's something to get your teeth into - and it doesn't even involve submerging yourself under water. So stop holding your breath and step up to the challenge of winning a Daily Politics mug in our Guess The Year quiz.

1138 Have you checked your post this morning? On 150 doormats across the country, there are letters inviting one hundred of the best and brightest to be the Tory MPs of the future. After a round of interviews, a shortlist of future Tory candidates has been drawn up - but this time there's a new look. Jenny gives us the details.
When David Cameron was elected leader six months ago, he declared that if the Conservative Party was to emerge from the wilderness it needed a complete makeover. The party may not have made any big changes in policy, but it has seen some intensive changes in its landscape. Mr Cameron first trimmed back the grassroots by halting the selection of parliamentary candidates. He wanted to sort the wheat from the chaff and announced there would be a "priority list" from which all the Conservative-held and target seats would be expected to pick their candidates. Today those chosen few will receive the letter telling them they have been selected. There will be 150 candidates, and this number will be topped up further as people vacate the list to take up a constituency nomination. At least halfwill be women and 10% will be black and ethnic minority candidates.
However, Mr Cameron may still hit some rocks in the road. The further he drives changes over the grassroots, the greater the chance that parts of the party will not take it lying down. We spoke to a number of people in the parliamentary party, who fear that candidates will no longer be selected on merit. And at the activist level, there is concern that the new system will exclude local candidates. So will Mr Cameron be able to cut his own path or will the Tory garden prove to be unmanageable?

1140 Andrew welcomes the Conservative activist Tim Montgomerie, who worked in Iain Duncan Smith's office when he was Tory leader and now runs the grassroots website conservativehome.com.

1145 We're joined by John Strafford, Chairman of the Campaign for Conservative Democracy, and our guests discuss the future of the Conservative Party.

1152 One of the winners of last week's local elections was the British National Party. The BNP doubled its tally of councillors to 47 - that's not a lot out of a total of around 22,000 local councillors across the country, and hardly puts the BNP on a par with, say, its neo-fascist brothers in France - the powerful National Front. But in Barking and Dagenham in East London, the party took 11 seats, making it the second largest group on the council. Giles is in Barking to get an idea of why the BNP did so well there.

1154 With Prime Minister's Questions almost upon us, we're joined by the BBC's Political Editor Nick Robinson and Ed The Bookie, to discuss today's HP Sauce.

1200 We cross the road to the Commons and hand over to our commentator, David Wilby.

1232 Andrew and Jenny discuss PMQs with Nick and our guests, and look at your email reactions to the Commons debate.

1240 We see how our favourite bookie got on with today's hot topics.

1242 We put you out of your misery and give you the answer to Guess The Year.

1244 We return to Giles in Barking and discuss fascism with our guests.

1252 Over the last decade, more than a third of university chemistry departments have been closed, leading to warnings that Britain isn't training up the scientists it needs for the next century. So is science in crisis? Top boffin Professor Heinz Wolff, presenter of TV classic The Great Egg Race tells us why he thinks the root of the problem lies in our schools.

1257 Your emails and questions for Michael Heseltine and Clare Short.

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