Curly Watts decided to stand against Audrey Roberts in the 2001 election campaign, feeling that she wasn't up to the job of representing the ward (but unaware that her mind was elsewhere having found out about her best friend Alma Halliwell's terminal cancer). Curly gave an interview to the Weatherfield Gazette in which he attacked Audrey for joining a council "fact-finding" trip to Spain on issues that had no connection to her work for the council. Audrey was livid about the interview and Curly's claim that he wanted to "clean-up" Weatherfield. She saw an opportunity to get back at Curly when David Platt dumped his election leaflets all over the Street instead of delivering them as he had been paid to do. She rang the Gazette who sent a Photographer who arrived just after Curly had cleane