LibDem is the only local candidate in Church Street by-election

4.40.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 28th Jun 2008

LibDem candidate Martin Thompson in the street on which he lives, with the Lisson Green Estate's Hardwick House and Dinton House in the background.

Liberal Democrat Martin Thompson is the only candidate in the Church Street by-election who lives locally, according to the official list of candidates produced by Westminster City Hall.

The official list also reveals that the candidate put forward by the Conservatives for the by-election does not even live in Westminster. The Tory candidate lives in Brent, near Wembley Stadium and Brent Cross Shopping Centre. His home address is five miles from Church Street.

Labour candidate Dave Rowntree, who finished last in the Marylebone High Street by-election last year, also lives nowhere near Church Street. His home address is two miles away, near Soho.

Reacting, Liberal Democrat candidate Martin Thompson said, "I have lived locally for almost 20 years. I am passionate about championing the Church Street area. Recent issues I have campaigned on include protecting local independent shops and Church Street Market from excessive supermarket competition. I also recently campaigned to save Lisson Grove post office from Labour's post office closures programme.

"I just cannot see how the Conservative candidate, as someone who lives five miles away in Brent, can possibly serve this area. The same goes for the Labour candidate, who lives near Soho. I see what's going on in this area every day because I live here. They don't."

The LibDems are also the only party whose campaign is being run by a Westminster resident. The Conservative and Labour agents, who are the individuals legally responsible for each candidate's campaign, live outside Westminster. The Conservative agent lives in Southwark and the Labour agent lives in Ealing.

Martin continued, "So, the campaign by the Conservative candidate from Brent is being run by an agent from Southwark. The Labour campaign for someone who lives in the West End is being run by an agent from Ealing. Madness!"