Northampton eyes on Leicester South for first Lib Dem MP in the area

9.57.50pm BST (GMT +0100) Sun 11th Jul 2004

Winning Leicester South will boost Lib Dem chances in Northampton

Northampton Liberal Democrat Councillors and activists returned from a weekend campaigning for the by-election in the Leicester South in buoyant mood. They are very hopeful of the first Lib Dem MP in the area being elected this Thursday.

"The bookies now put the Lib Dems ahead. There is now a very real chance we will take the seat from Labour" said Andrew Simpson, Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson for Northampton North.

"Leicester South is very similar to Northampton North. In both seats the Lib Dems took 46% of the vote at the last local elections and we have more councillors than either the Tories or Labour in both constituencies. If we are successful in Leicester on Thursday Northampton North becomes an even more winnable seat for the Lib Dems".

Andrew Simpson, Richard Church Lib Dem Borough Group leader and other Councillors and party members will be helping in Leicester South all this week in the run up to polling day on Thursday.

"This by-election will be more than just a judgement on Tony Blair and his position on Iraq - even though it will come just one day after the publication of the Butler Report. It is also a chance for electors to register their dissatisfaction with the state of our public services - including schools and hospitals where Labour and Tories have both been trumpeting 'choice' but failing to address the real problem of standards.

It will also be a disaster for the Tories if - as predicted - they are pushed into third place in both this by-election and the Birmingham Hodge Hill one also held on Thursday " continued Andrew.