Lib Dems face Tory offensive on their southwest heartland

David Cameron has ordered a string of cabinet ministers to campaign in the totemic Liberal Democrat seat of Yeovil, amid Tory claims they will lay waste to Nick Clegg's southwest stronghold on May 7.

Mr Cameron began the offensive last Sunday when he held a rally in Norton-sub-Hamdon, the home village of former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown, who captured the seat from the Tories in 1983.

The Lib Dem MP for Yeovil is education minister David Laws, but the fact that Mr Cameron is targeting a seat with a majority of 13,000 is a sign of Conservative confidence in the region.

Lord Ashdown claimed the Tories were "whistling in the dark" and that their push in the West Country would fail. He said Mr Cameron was delusional if he thought his party would capture Yeovil.

"We are fighting a strong campaign, and there are hand-to-hand battles on the streets and doorsteps of the southwest," he said. "I'm confident that where we need to win, we are winning."

Mr Cameron has set himself the target of gaining 23 seats to secure a Tory majority in the Commons, and 10 of those targets are in the southwest region, a long-time bastion of the Lib Dems.

The targets range from Chippenham in Wiltshire to St Ives in Cornwall, and they should all be theoretically in range for Mr Cameron: the Lib Dem national vote share was 23 per cent in 2010 and is down to 8-9 per cent.

But the Lib Dems are fighting a highly concentrated campaign to defend their territory, with most effort devoted to contesting seats where there is an existing incumbent MP with a strong local record.

In seats where a Lib Dem MP is retiring, the party is in trouble. Seats such as Somerton & Frome and Taunton Deane in Somerset are regarded by Tories as "in the bag", while Bath - where long-time MP Don Foster is stepping down - is another Tory target.

"Where there isn't an incumbent Lib Dem MP, they are facing meltdown," said Gary Streeter, Tory MP for South West Devon, who is helping to lead the campaign in key target seats.

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Simon Taylor, head of press for Devon and Cornwall Lib Dems, said: "It's a sign of Tory desperation that they are targeting the southwest - they aren't going to win anywhere else."

Mr Taylor said the Conservatives were neglecting the "fantastic name recognition" of local Lib Dem MPs, who have made a career defending the interests of constituencies with a distinct regional identity.

However, Mr Streeter argues that Tory prospects have been boosted by the fact that Labour and Green support in the West Country has held up better than expected. "That's all coming from the Lib Dems," he said.

Meanwhile he claimed that the Ukip phenomenon in the southwest was not as strong as feared, helping Conservative challengers.

On the ground many Lib Dem MPs are fighting very local campaigns with little or no mention of Nick Clegg on election material; Tessa Munt, the Lib Dem MP for Wells, barely even mentions that she is a Lib Dem.

But Ms Munt said: "My sense is it seems to be going OK. It certainly doesn't feel to me like it's going to be a wipeout."

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