Paddy Ashdown launched Cheltenham MP's campaign

Current Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood was first off the starting blocks with a campaign launch just hours after the announcement of a General Election on 6 May. Former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown launched Martin's campaign at St.Andrew's United Reformed Church in Montpellier.
Gordon Brown visited the Queen on 6 April to request a dissolution of Parliament, firing the official starting gun for the 2010 General Election campaign. Parliament was officially dissolved and all current legislation either completed in less than a week or lost. Martin launched his campaign at 7.30pm on 6 April at a public meeting to be addressed by his old friend Lord Ashdown. Martin worked as a young member of Paddy's leadership campaign team back in the 1980s. Paddy's visit follows other high-profile visits to the key marginal in the last year by Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, shadow chancellor Vince Cable and shadow home secretary Chris Huhne.

Experts predict that boundary changes that come into effect at this General Election will make Cheltenham a close two-horse race between Martin and the Conservative candidate. Amongst the minor parties UKIP, Labour and the Official Monster Raving Loony Party are expected to field candidates but Cheltenham Green Party have voted to back Martin. Martin's campaign has also received a boost from the recent high-profile defection of leading Tory councillor Klara Sudbury.

Martin said: "We're getting a fantastic response on the doorstep and it's great to be getting support from across traditional party divides. This will be a close race between me and the Conservatives and they are obviously spending huge amounts of money here on top of their local election expenses. But you don't win this kind of campaign in the last few weeks. You win it with five year's hard work campaigning for local NHS services, for local public transport, local jobs and the local countryside."

"Nationally-funded Tory leaflets are trying to confuse people into voting Tory as the only way to vote against Labour. The truth is that in many parts of the UK it is the Lib Dems who are defeating Labour - from Edinburgh to Cardiff, from Newcastle to Bristol. To vote against a Labour government, you have to vote against Labour MPs in places like those cities and Lib Dems will doing that in their millions. But here in Cheltenham, Labour were defeated years ago. The reason the Tories want everyone to vote Conservative here is because they're scared that we will spoil their plan for another one-party majority and their rich backers are terrified of Lib Dem plans to clean up politics and crack down on tax breaks for the very rich. Every extra Lib Dem MP is another voice for deeper reform and a fairer Britain."