THE election in Bury St Edmunds is a family affair for Labour - candidate Kevin Hind’s agent is his mum Diane.

The pair are pulling out all the stops to ensure Gordon Brown’s message reaches all parts of this sprawling constituency, which hugs the Norfolk border before dropping down to Needham Market.

Kevin, 28, who is an editorial assistant for a publishing company in Cambridge, believes a large turnout at the election will be to his advantage. “The gap between us and the Liberal Democrats is growing and I am confident of a good result.”

Diane works for an insurance broker in Bury. It’s her first election as an agent and she says: “It’s great fun and I’m enjoying it immensely.”

THE English Democrats are putting up a valiant fight in Colchester, even though the party has been excluded from constituency hustings as well as the election debate at the University of Essex.

“We are putting up several candidates in the county and 109 nationwide, but we just can’t get our message across,” says Eddie Bone, who is the party’s man in Colchester.

“We get a good response when we explain our manifesto and policies to make England comparable to the other three home nations by having an English parliament. One almost feels that the other parties are fearful of our message of a fair deal for the English.”

I have much sympathy for the argument, but it is being lost in the face of the economic crisis which will consume the incoming government.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “How can it be class war to say the guy went to Eton, or that he was part of some dreadful right-wing social club at Oxford? Where you come from does matter you know. His policies are all about helping his own sort.’’ - Labour supporting Manchester Utd manager Sir Alex Ferguson speaking about Tory leader David Cameron