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Constituency guide: Orpington
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| Orpington: A key Lib Dem target |
If the Liberal Democrats are winning in this South London seat then history is repeating itself.
Lord Avebury, known then as plain Eric Lubbock, took Orpington for the Liberals in the 1960s in a by-election which undermined Harold Macmillan's premiership.
The Lib Dem candidate this time is making his fourth bid for the constituency and is in confident mood.
Chris Maines narrowed incumbent John Horam's majority to just 296 votes last time around and the Lib Dems are fighting hard in this greater London constituency.
In this seat Labour's Emily Bird is likely to put up only a paper fight in order to boost the chances of a Tory defeat.
Horam, who has been a member of Labour and the Liberals, has seen his majority shrink over a succession of elections.
It fell to 13,000 in 1992, dropping to 3,000 in 1997 and falling to 300 in the last election.
He will be hoping that the Tory resurgency seen under Michael Howard will be enough to see off the Lib Dem challenge.
But with Charles Kennedy's party fighting hard, and with a trend behind them, Horam may find his parliamentary career ending on May 5.
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Published: Wed, 20 Apr 2005 00:02:00 GMT+01
Author: Craig Hoy
2001 result:
Conservatives: 22,334
Lib Dems: 22,065
Labour: 5,517
UKIP: 996
Majority: 269
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