THE selection of former Tory MP Shaun Woodward as Labour candidate for St Helens in the forthcoming General Eelection has been hailed as "a victory for the nation" -- by one of the men who hopes to topple him at the polls!

In an exclusive interview with the Star, Lee Rotherham, the Conservative candidate for the constituency, said that people all over the country would now see the Labour Party as "a mixture of contempt and arrogance".

And he added: "The selection of Mr Woodward has raised many issues about the way that the Labour Party would run the country if they were to win the next election -- at least people have been given the chance to see what they are really like".

Mr Rotherham also pledged to reduce crime and improve education and health in the area, if elected, denounced the Labour party for their failings in these areas.

He said: "The Labour Party made many promises that they have not kept and if you ask people on the street of St Helens what they want then you will get a different answer from each of them.

"We will fight to keep the pound and to keep our national identity independent of Europe. We are not living in a fantasy land -- we have clear goals which are deliverable".

Mr Rotherham said that he relished the prospect of standing in a traditionally Labour stronghold and stressed that to vote for the Liberal Democrats was not the only alternative for disenchanted Labour voters."