A local councillor and farmer is set to fight the Morecambe and Lunesdale parliamentary constituency.

James Airey, leader of the Tory group on Lancaster City Council, will hope to overturn Geraldine Smith's 5,092 majority in what was once a safe Conservative seat.

Cllr Airey, who is also a member of the council's cabinet, stood unsuccessfully for Barrow in 2001.

He said: "I am absolutely delighted to have been selected as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Morecambe and Lunesdale.

I am obviously particularly delighted as I am a local candidate, but I realise there is a great deal of work to be done.

"The next general election's main battle ground will be public services.

"It is an area that Labour has made a great deal of noise about but have failed to deliver on.

We are developing some new policies in the public service area, which will be unveiled soon.

"We have a very diverse constituency with the coast, city and countryside and I want to be sure I am looking at the whole constituency is covered.

I don't think that happens at the moment.

"We have a government that is very much urban based, that doesn't look at the problems on the countryside.

There are massive problems in the areas such as the West End, but in rural areas there are problems as well."