IN the 2005 General Election Jack Straw faced one of the biggest challenges of his Parliamentary career.

Faced with a vocal Iraq war protest, the then Foreign Secretary saw his majority trimmed to 8,009, but still polled 42 per cent of the vote.

Since the last election, Labour has lost power in the town hall, and doesn’t control a single local authority across Lancashire.

Labour is likely to have felt more confident about Blackburn a few weeks ago than it does now following the televised debates which appear to have weakened Gordon Brown’s position, and made all Labour candidates uneasy. However it would still take a 9.8 per cent swing to secure a Conservative victory in Blackburn.

But the Conservative candidate Michael Law-Riding is bullish about his chances on May 6.

“It is ours to lose”, said Mr Law-Riding, the councillor chosen by the Tory party to unseat the Justice Secretary in Blackburn.

Mr Straw insisted he had come through tougher tests.

“The most difficult fight I ever had was in 1983. Everyone said I would lose Blackburn”, he said, describing Labour’s worst election since 1918, when its vote fell by three million.

“Is this even tougher? I will tell you afterwards.”

The constituency has been Labour's since 1955, when the old Blackburn East and Blackburn West seats were amalgamated.

With a quarter of Blackburn’s electorate registered for a postal vote, twice the national average, it may be too late for the candidates to win them over.

Labour campaigners hope Mr Straw’s local support will hold up, even if there is a protest vote against Prime Minister Gordon Brown elsewhere.

They claim some voters, especially in Asian areas, will vote for him even if they support the Liberal Democrats locally.

“Someone said to me ‘you’re all right, Mr Straw, but I don’t like Mr Brown’.

"I said ‘firstly, it’s not a beauty contest, secondly Mr Brown is not the candidate for Blackburn’.”

Liberal Democrat Paul English is also campaigning hard, hoping to capitalise on his party’s recent success with a spectacular upset Meanwhile, a trio of interesting independent candidates have put themselves forward.

Janis Sharp, of Hertfordshire, blames the Justice Secretary for the extradition treaty under which her son, computer hacker Gary McKinnon, could be sent for trial in the United States.

Former Lib Dem Bushra Irfan is running a high-profile campaign, promising to turn Blackburn into a city, encourage small businesses and ‘improve the condition’ of the town.

She said Muslims were being persecuted ‘in Blackburn and around the world’.

Also standing is Grace Astley, a supply teacher from Sabden who is taking action against the General Teaching Council.

The 51-year-old was disciplined last year after being accused of threatening a primary school pupil.

She is standing to restore her reputation and highlight flaws in the justice system.

Coun Law-Riding, who is in charge of leisure and culture at the council, is putting his local roots at the heart of his campaign.

His leaflets list ‘Blackburn born and raised’ as the main reason to vote Tory, as his team look to succeed where the past seven Conservative nominations failed.

“We get the same message wherever we go”, he said.

“People are realising it’s possible to go to the Conservatives in Blackburn, and they are looking forward to removing Jack Straw.

“I have never seen a mood that is so anti-Labour.”

Unemployment is above the national average and Blackburn contains some of the most deprived wards in the country, according to national statistics.

But there have been signs the town is defying the economic slump, particularly in terms of regeneration projects, with a £66million shopping centre due to open in the summer.

Use of most of the borough’s leisure facilities has also been made free of charge in a move to tackle poor health, which has won national acclaim.

Central to the clashes between the Tory and Labour candidates has been responsibility for the progress made in the town, and who is to blame for its problems - the town hall or the Labour government.

“Overall, I say to people that Labour has made Blackburn a better place,” Mr Straw insisted.

His opponents would beg to differ. He needs to win this argument or his 31-year reign could be over.

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