FORMER Conservative leader William Hague claimed the Tories were winning over East Lancashire on a campaigning visit to Colne and Darwen.

The Shadow Foreign Secretary toured Darwen's market and drew the raffle at Derwent Hall luncheon club.

Asked if his Yorkshire roots equipped him for Northern campaigning better than Eton-educated David Cameron, he said: “I think David Cameron connects very well with the whole country. But I also have a political role with the North of England.

“We have undoubtedly made a huge amount of progress.

“The days of someone from London pitching up six weeks before an election are long gone.

“Now we have local candidates, who have been preparing to be MPs for years.”

Parliamentary candidate Jake Berry had earlier shown the shadow foreign secretary around the Conservatives’ new Darwen office, Railway Road, a sign of the Tories’ ambitions in the constituency.

Mr Hague added: “It’s a very important seat, and there’s no secret that it’s one of the constituencies we’re hoping to gain.”