Rural issues unite rival parties

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/england/8641297.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Candidates competing for votes in Herefordshire have said the differences will be in their parties attitudes rather than on rural issues.

The Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidates for Hereford and South Herefordshire have listed some of the same aims in their agendas.

The difference between them will come down to how they listen to and treat their constituents, they said.

The Labour candidate said she will make rural issues heard in Westminster.

Issues the Conservatives and Lib Dems agreed over include a desire to reform the common agricultural policy, reform the rural payments agency, introduce better food labelling and set up a supermarket ombudsman.

'Differing attitudes'

Conservative candidate Jesse Norman said he thought there were a lot of areas the two parties overlapped on.

"The difference is in attitudes. We are a national party and rural issues have always been at the heart of some of the things we have been thinking about," he said.

Lib Dem candidate Sarah Carr said the difference between them and other parties is that they will listen to what people want.

"We don't dictate downwards, we don't tell people what they want," she said.

Boundary changes have meant it is thought the Conservative and the Liberal Democrats will be the two main parties involved in the election in this constituency.

Labour candidate Phillipa Roberts said it was true, to some extent, that Labour had not fully understood the countryside.

"I hope part of my job and my role is to be a stronger, louder voice for people in this area."

The candidates nominated for Hereford and South Herefordshire in the election are: Phillipa Roberts: Labour Party; Jesse Norman: Conservative Party; Valentine Smith: UK Independence Party (UKIP); Sarah Carr: Liberal Democrats; John Oliver: British National Party.