TORY MP HOPEFUL SHOULD CONDEMN BNP FIASCO

Following the revelations that the Darwen Conservatives had invited a locally well known BNP activist to stand for them in the forthcoming Darwen Town Council elections, the Lib Dems have called for the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate - Jake Berry to distance himself from the local party's obvious serious failure.

Nick Holt, who has stood for the BNP in past elections, was invited to stand for the Darwen Conservative party as a candidate in this June's elections, before the alarm bells were sounded and Mr Holt's past was rumbled. Conservative central office had to then step in and suspend Mr Holt.

The Darwen LibDems Parliamentary Candidate - Dale Mulgrew was stunned at such ineptitude from the Conservatives and commented, 'It is incredible to think that Mr Holt was not only invited to become a candidate for the Darwen Conservative Party, but he made the shortlist!'

'This meant that he must have reached the final stage of the selection process through the local party and so it is staggering that he was even allowed to get to this stage - this renders the entire affair a complete fiasco of the highest order.'

'Plainly it is deeply worrying that certain members of the Darwen Conservatives share the same values and ideas as someone like Mr Holt, who has pushed for such a right wing extreme agenda in the past.'

'It only proves that a Darwen Tory leopard cannot change its spots and the party in Darwen may offer change, but clearly it is not ready for change. When you scratch away at the surface you find the old Conservative ways masked by a disturbing facade.'

'It is now only proper that my Conservative rival in the race to be Darwen's next MP publicly denounces this catastrophic failure and condemns the local party for this debacle. Otherwise, we can only conclude through his association with the Darwen party that he condones this serious blunder and everything that it stands for.'