As we enter the final stages of the General Election campaign, Harpenden and Berkhamsted Conservative candidate Nigel Gardner has received two new endorsements.
The first is from Welwyn Hatfield MP and defence secretary Grant Shapps, who said: “I know first-hand that Nigel will be a true local champion…
“In a more volatile and dangerous world, Nigel understands how seriously you take our country’s security, and that’s why he backs our pledge to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence, amounting to billions of pounds in extra funding for our armed forces…”
David Gauke, who was Conservative MP for South West Herts from 2005-2019, and then as an independent MP until the end of that Parliament, has also pledged his support.
At the time his constituency included Berkhamsted, Tring and the surrounding villages.
He said: “If I lived in Harpenden and Berkhamsted, I have to say I’d be voting for Nigel Gardner.. Now I understand there are a lot of people who are disenchanted with the Conservative Party because I’m one of them.
“But in Harpenden and Berkhamsted you have got a candidate who will provide moderate, sensible, common sense Conservative values; will stand up to the extremes who want to take over the Conservative Party; and if there’s a Labour government, he’ll hold them to account in an effective way.”
Meanwhile, Lib Dem candidate Victoria Collins’ campaign has received a fresh boost from comedian and actor Steve Coogan, five years after he gave his endorsement to St Albans’ Daisy Cooper ahead of her election as MP.
So can lightning strike twice and he secure victory for the Lib Dems in Harpenden and Berkhamsted?
“I hope so. I just want to get the Tories out and the Lib Dem candidates generally have values that I adhere to but the principal message is to vote tactically.
“You know my loyalty shifts, I’ve got certain issues with Labour at the moment but generally I support them, but the most important thing is to get the Tories out in a decisive way and that means voting tactically, so in certain constituencies voting Lib Dem, and in others voting Labour. So that’s what I’m advising people to do.”
A recent poll on the General Election published by The Economist, predicts a slight Lib Dem victory in Harpenden and Berkhamsted with 30 per cent of the vote, Conservatives just below at 28 per cent, and Labour third at 20 per cent. But UK Polling Report puts the Conservatives in the lead with 26.8%, Labour second on 24.14%, and Lib Dems third on 22.5%, but admits the result is too close to call.
