Tories in with great shout

Backing the blues... Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, left, pledges his support to Conservative candidate Kashif Ali with John Lees, MD at LT Scientific

Election 2011 

CONSERVATIVE Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has dismissed Nick Clegg’s claim that the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election will be a two-horse race.

Speaking during a visit to Greenfield yesterday, he gave Tory candidate Kashif Ali full support and said that he had every chance of clinching power.

He said: “It was very close last time.

“I absolutely feel that he has got a chance after speaking to people here.”

Kashif Ali came third in the election in May last year, but was only 2,400 votes behind.

There had been speculation that the Conservatives would take a back seat in the by-election and allow the Lib-Dems to campaign, in what many see as the first test of public faith in the coalition.

However Mr Lansley swept such rumours aside by backing Ali and claiming that people won’t be voting tactically — they will be deciding on who will make the best MP.

“Voters need someone that understands them, they expect a good candidate like Kashif who has lived in the borough.”

Visiting LTE Scientific Ltd, a Greenfield-based medical equipment manufacturer, he said that the Government was supporting the Royal Oldham Hospital by investing in the new women and children’s unit.

He also said that NHS savings would be reinvested back into services.