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With just a week to go, Hartlepool by-election is looking to be a close call September 26, 2004

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Just one vote may separate Lib Dem Jody Dunn from Labour on Thursday: Labour themselves have admitted that one vote could make the difference.

Labour remain hopeful that local people will want a loyal servant for Tony Blair at Westminster.

But the future of Hartlepool’s hospital has dominated the campaign. Doubts about Labour’s commitment to the hospital have been confirmed.

Labour candidate, Iain Wright, lost support when he couldn’t remember if he had signed the “Save our Hospital” petition. According to the Sunday Times (26 September), “Labour nerves rattled … Labour’s campaign to retain Peter Mandelson’s seat in Hartlepool is showing increasing signs of nervousness.”

Meanwhile, Hartlepool’s Conservative Leader, George Morris, won praise for his honest admission that the Conservatives could not win.

Conservative and UKIP voters are switching to the Lib Dems. That could tip the balance Jody Dunn’s way.

Today, the Conservative co-chairman even told the News of the World that, “The Liberal Democrats are destroying Labour”. He was commenting on a Populus opinion poll for the paper which saw the Liberal Democrats’ support soar by seven points, while Labour dropped by eight.

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