Mary Macleod, Brentford & Isleworth

Between now and the General Election on May 7 I'm highlighting a series of 'target seats', those where the candidate standing for re-election has supported anti-tobacco policies, and those where a leading candidate is an opponent of excessive lifestyle regulations and policies that infantilise us all. With a few exceptions I'm focussing on marginal or semi-marginal seats.

#29 – Brentford & Isleworth
I'd never heard of Mary Macleod until recently. No surprise, really. When it came to sticking her head above the parapet on tobacco-related issues Macleod adopted a very low profile, choosing not to vote. She finally redeemed herself (in my eyes) by voting against her government on plain packaging, which takes some courage when you're defending a marginal seat and you want the party to send in the troops to support you during the election campaign. Still, it doesn't seem to have done her any harm on that score because three days ago she was joined on the campaign trail in Brentford & Isleworth by Samantha Cameron no less (Daily Mirror). Unfortunately Macleod is vulnerable to the collapse of the Lib Dem vote to Labour. If she succeeds it will be a small miracle but I hope she does.

2010 majority: 1,958 (3.6%)
Estimated number of smokers in Solihull: 15,334*
Principal opponent: Labour
Friend or foe: Friend
Target rating: Extremely vulnerable – every vote counts

*Based on 20% of the registered electorate in 2010

Note: marginal seats have been defined as those with majorities of 10% or less that require a swing of 5% for the incumbent party to lose.