Oldham East: Tory candidate denies ‘soft’ campaign
The Conservatives’ candidate in tomorrow’s by-election has insisted his party is fighting as hard as it can to win in Oldham East and Saddleworth.
Kashif Ali’s campaign has been dogged by media reports that his party’s leadership has secretly preferred a victory for Liberal Democrat candidate Elwyn Watkins, who fell just 103 votes short of Labour last May.
But Mr Ali was only 2,400 votes behind the winner, turning this seat in normal circumstances into a three-way marginal.
“This suggestion that we’re running a soft campaign is a complete nonsense. There’s no truth in it,” Mr Ali said in an interview with politics.co.uk.
“What could be better evidence than the prime minister breaking with usual convention to come here in Oldham East and Saddleworth, campaign with me and say he is fully backing me and fighting for every single vote?”
Media reports have suggested recent Cabinet meetings have included discussions about how to help Mr Watkins beat Labour candidate Debbie Abrahams. Ministers believe a by-election victory would be a huge boost for the Liberal Democrats, whose poll ratings are at their lowest ever level.
Mr Ali conceded that there were no “huge differences” between his party and the Lib Dems at the national level, although he did point to alternative vote, marriage in the tax system and nuclear energy as areas of clear differences.
He sought to emphasise his ‘local’ status, as the only candidate born and brought up in Oldham, and his local campaigns as reasons why he deserves to be the seat’s MP instead of Mr Watkins.
In addition to opposing the congestion charge and a 20% reduction in council allowances, “we’ve had lots of ideas for bringing jobs into the area”, Mr Ali added.
“There’s a lot of local issues where we are taking a different approach. In this election people are looking for a good local MP.”
Mr Ali has been frustrated by the negative campaigning he claims the other two parties have resorted to. Liberal Democrat leaflets have included “misleading barcharts” which suggest only two parties can win, while Labour suggested winter fuel allowance was to be scrapped.
“It was very disappointing,” Mr Ali said. “The one thing we should have learned from the circumstances of this election was cleaning up campaigning. I don’t think there’s been enough of that.”
Disgraced former MP Phil Woolas, forced out of parliament after a rare election court concluded he had misrepresented facts about his Lib Dem challenger in last May’s election, has not been campaigning for Labour in this by-election.
Jobs, immigration and the NHS are the main issues on the doorstep, Mr Ali said. “If Phil Woolas was standing again it would have been a different dynamic.”
Opponents have repeatedly highlighted Mr Ali’s key support base in Oldham’s Asian community as a key factor complicating the 2011 by-election. Mr Ali acknowledged his reliance on their support, but said the Asian vote only made up nine per cent of the constituency.
“The reason it was important in our campaign was traditionally Conservatives had never impacted on that vote,” he said.
“What we had this time was a Conservative candidate who is going into that community because he was born there and brought up there.”
Speaking fluent Punjabi has helped, he explained, but his dominance has not gone unchecked. Two Asian Labour councillors and one Lib Dem councillor have made the process harder, Mr Ali said, but added: “We’ve made huge inroads into that community in a way we haven’t done in previous elections, and I’m very proud of that.”
