TWO shadow cabinet ministers have recently touched down in Southport in the space of a fortnight – the two Theresas, May and Villiers. (For a good anecdote about when a Tory icon was called Teresa in jest, courtesy of the late Tony Banks, see here).
Signs of a campaigning push on the resort from Conservative Central Office? At least there was none of the pettiness that ensued when David Cameron decided to visit Hazel Blears' Salford constituency.
Certainly Mrs May is one of David Cameron’s big guns, and I doubt the time the time she took to visit Manor Road Post Office and deliver a seminar at Southport Investment Centre is deployed willy-nilly. Of course, campaigning commitment comes ultimately down to hard cash, and it’s beyond my ken whether Stanley Street is enjoying any of the largesse dispensed by Tory tycoon Lord Ashcroft. But if current trends are anything to go by, I expect we can see more household political names accompanying Cllr Brenda Porter as she seeks to overturn John Pugh’s 3838 majority as the town’s MP.
Local Lib Dems, I expect, would defend their prospects at the next general election by pointing to their renowned “bootstrapping” resources, courtesy of a strong activist base; as well as Dr Pugh’s undoubted personal popularity across large swathes of voters, which his dogged constituency work has done much to bolster. Yet Cllr Porter is also no pushover in the popularity stakes…
In short, there is still all to play for between now and when Gordon Brown dissolves parliament, now widely assumed to be two years away. But the Porter v Pugh face-off can only assume ever-greater importance, particularly after upcoming local polls are done with. They will be the last electoral test in Southport before the general election – in 2009 we skip a borough election and have the regional ballot for the European Parliament.
In the meantime, this psephology website predicts the Tories becoming the largest party in a hung parliament after a general election, with a collapse in the Lib Dem parliamentary contingent. For Southport, it predicts by a narrow margin Brenda Porter taking her oath at the Palace of Westminster. Sobering stuff for Shakespeare Street.
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