Stephen Day, MP for Cheadle since 1987, had the toughest contest of his career in 1997, holding off a spirited challenge from the Liberal Democrats who increased their share of the vote by 8% and came within 3,500 votes of a shock victory.

As usual, Labour trailed a poor third, polling less than half the Lib Dem’s total.

Cheadle perfectly illustrates the Tory phenomenon of performing poorly during the local elections of the mid-1980s and 1990s but belying such performances at parliamentary level.

The seat is part of the Liberal Democrat-controlled Stockport metropolitan borough council, an authority where the Tories control just 6 out of 63 seats.

However, it is questionable how strong support for the Liberal Democrats really is when tactical voting is taken into account.

In the local elections of 1995 for example, the Tories held just two seats but still managed to win a 32.7% share of the vote in Cheadle compared to the Liberal Democrat’s 39.7%.