General Election underway in Folkestone and Hythe

10.58.34am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 6th Apr 2010

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been to Buckingham Palace to ask the Queen to dissolve Parliament, which will trigger a General Election on 6th May. The Liberal Democrat campaign in Folkestone and Hythe is already underway, with leaflets being delivered to thousands of homes across the area. Lib Dem Lynne Beaumont is predicted to be the only serious challenger to the Conservatives in the constituency, with bookmakers Ladbrokes rating both UKIP and Labour as 100-1 rank outsiders.

Lynne Beaumont said:

"This should be a really exciting election campaign, and I'm really grateful for all the messages of support from across the area I've already received.

"The Conservatives must not take Folkestone and Hythe for granted. The Liberal Democrats are the clear challengers here, and we'll be making the running over the next few weeks.

"The Liberal Democrats have stood up for local people time and again. I've already pledged to be a full time MP for our area with no other paid job, and to accept no second homes expenses if elected: an MP can and should commute from here to Westminster."