WILTS TIMES. APRIL 15: Our build-up to the General Election in Westbury constituency begins as reporter Ed Mezzetti joins Liberal Democrat candidate Duncan Hames on the campaign trail...

Liberal Democrat contender Duncan Hames could be the youngest MP in the House of Commons if he is elected on May 5.

At 27, Mr Hames believes he can snatch Westbury from the Tories, undercutting the claim of Brent East MP and fellow Lib Dem Sarah Teather, 30, to the title of most junior Parliamentarian.

The Oxford graduate is keen to convince local voters his party is the 'real alternative'.

In 2001 the Lib Dems (31.6 per cent of the vote) finished second behind the Conservatives (42.1) in Westbury and Mr Hames hopes voters will buy his argument: "If you don't want Michael Howard to be prime minister, the only way you can achieve that in this constituency is to vote Lib Dem."

On Monday evening he was out campaigning in Warminster East, a ward with three Conservative councillors. I followed him as he knocked on doors in Queensway and Princess Gardens to see if he could make any inroads into a Tory heartland.

For an area supposed to be true blue, the residents I spoke to seemed surprisingly supportive of the Liberal Democrats.

But although many said they would vote for Mr Hames on May 5, less believed he could wrestle the Westbury seat away from Conservative MP Dr Andrew Murrison.

The first person we encountered was a Labour-supporting pensioner, who was considering switching his allegiances after the Iraq war.

After meeting an old lady who vowed not to break the habit of a lifetime by voting on May 5, Mr Hames found a Labour voter ready to talk politics.

Maureen Hiscock, 52, spoke of the difficulties she faced being disabled and on low income and asked: "What are you going to do for the everyday people?"

Having heard Mr Hames' pitch on tax cuts, she joked: "I'm not easily convinced am I?" and went on: "I think there are many, many people who can't afford the council tax.

"There's one party I will not be supporting and that begins with a C. I've always voted Labour all my life and I'll see what the Labour man comes to promise me.

"I'll be perfectly frank with you we'll always have a Conservative MP around here."

Another voter keen to talk was 61-year-old Ron MacDuff, a Lib Dem supporter who is waiting for a hip replacement.

He felt Mr Hames had a reasonable chance of winning, saying: "The other two parties just fight among themselves too much. They never do what they say they are going to do.

"It's nice to see somebody (Mr Hames) who is trying to get somewhere."

While most residents Mr Hames spoke to said they would mull over what he said, he did secure instant success with a female Labour voter.

After some careful persuasion, she agreed to give him her vote and put up a campaign poster.

Pensions were a key issue with 75-year-old floating voter Eric Kinman, who admitted he was "not too politically minded".

He said: "The ones that made provision for the future are the ones that get penalised at the moment.

"Some people around here get the electricity paid and the gas paid, but I saved all my life and I don't. It makes no sense."