Co-op duo are general election rivals

TWO Oxford, Swindon and Gloucester Co-op members will face each other at the hustings when the general election is called. For the Liberal Democrats&#039 choice to try to...

TWO Oxford, Swindon and Gloucester Co-op members will face each other at the hustings when the general election is called.

For the Liberal Democrats&#039 choice to try to unseat Dr Doug Naysmith as Labour/Co-op MP for Bristol North West is fellow OSG member and co-operator Bob Hoyle, a former Labour/Co-op councillor and founder of ALDCO, the Association of Lib Dem Co-operators.

However Mr Hoyle, who says he left Labour because of the "increasingly right-wing drift of the Government" faces an uphill struggle to take the seat.

In the 2001 general election, the Lib Dem candidate came third with less than 16 per cent of the vote. Dr Naysmith had a majority of over 11,000 and more than 52 per cent of the vote with the Tory candidate well clear of the Lib Dems in second place.

A Bristol Labour Party spokesman commented: "Bob Hoyle used to pride himself on being a good co-operator, so it seems a pity that he is standing against one of the few Labour/Co-op candidates in the region.

"There won&#039t be any complacency, but this is a strong Labour constituency and I confidently believe that Doug Naysmith will take the seat again."

Mr Hoyle, meanwhile, is backing a new all-party pressure group launched to campaign for a democratically elected House of Lords.

Other supporters of www.ElectTheLords.org.uk include Robin Cook, Tony Robinson, Baroness Shirley Williams and Mark Lazarowicz, Labour/Co-op MP for Edinburgh North & Leith.

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