Faking your own death to escape debtors and being a Czech spy puts former Labour MP John Stonehouse in a league of his own when it comes to political notoriety.
His colourful life was detailed in a Channel 4 documentary last week and for some people in the North East it stirred memories of another Labour party MP at the time whose antics also appeared to be straight from a work of fiction.
John Ryman, represented the working class mining constituency of Blyth as it was then from 1974 to 1987 by which time it had been re-named Blyth Valley.
