The next Battle of Bosworth gets underway

Following the re burial procession of King Richard the 3rd this weekend, killed at the Battle of Bosworth, another Battle of Bosworth is underway.

In a matter of weeks voters in the Bosworth consitituency will go to the polls and a ferocious battle is underway between the Conservatives and Lib Dems in this marginal seat.

The constituency has been held since 1987 by controversial Conservative MP David Tredinnick. However a series of scandals and his advocacy of outlandish views, such as using Astrology in healthcare, could see his reign as the constituency's MP brought to an end in a matter of weeks.

David Tredinnick is being challenged by local Lib Dem Councillor Michael Mullaney who recorded the biggest swing against any sitting Tory MP at the 2010 election. A swing of less than 5% this time would see Mr Tredinnick lose his seat.

Whilst post 2010 has been a challenging time for Lib Dems nationally the party continues to win in Bosworth. Hinckley and Bosworth was one of only a small number of Councils in the country the Lib Dems won outright in the 2011 Council Elections and in the 2013 County Council elections the Lib Dems won more seats in the constituency than the Conservatives.

Whilst Lib Dem Michael Mullaney has set the pace with a campaign to bring A and E and Maternity services to Hinckley and previous successful campaigns to save the local Ambulance Station when it was threatened with closure, David Tredinnick has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Mr Tredinnick is the last surviving "Cash for Questions" MP still in Parliament, having been banned from the House of Commons in the scandal. He was also caught up more recently in the expenses scandal for claiming Astrology Software and an "Intimate relationships" course on expenses. In addition he has faced a huge backlash for calling for the use of Astrology in healthcare, saying Drs shouldn't operate on full moons and GPs should consult patients horoscopes to help diagnose illness.

His Lib Dem challenger Michael Mullaney said "The next Battle of Bosworth will be a really close fight between myself and David Tredinnick. With his way out views on using Astrology in healthcare, his involvement in the Cash for Questions and Expenses Scandals and his living over 100 miles away from the constituency and doing little to represent it, he faces an extremely tough fight to save his seat."