Bolton East
Peter Turner Once upon a time Bolton East was an easy industrial constituency to forecast. Bolton Tories and Liberals had a pact which gave Mr Philip Bell QC (Conservative) a clear run against Labour in Bolton East and Mr Arthur Holt (Liberal) an equal advantage in Bolton West. The pair won a hat-trick of elections before the pact broke down in 1960. Since then the constituency has been highly marginal with Labour having the edge in normal years. This suggests that the Labour candidate, forty-two-year-old history teacher Mr David Young, must be favourite.
But several factors could influence the result. Mr Laurence Reed, thirty-six-year-old bachelor son of the Austin Reed family, pulled off the surprise of the 1970 general election when he took Bolton East from sitting Labour MP Mr Bob Howarth by 471 votes, overturning a Labour majority of 8,282. Local Tories believe that Mr Reed has the personality to repeat that performance. But a Liberal intrudes again this year, and Liberals have scooped between 5,000 and 10,000 votes in Bolton East at general elections during the past decade. Their candidate this time, twenty-six-year-old Manchester barrister Mr Timothy Akeroyd, arrives late on the scene and is not known to voters.
The decisive fight must be between Mr Reed and Mr Young. In an election dedicated to national issues, Mr Reed's personal abilities may well prove less effective than Mr Young's party label.
Mr Turner is municipal correspondent of the Bolton Evening News.
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