THE five hopefuls fighting the West Devon and Torridge seat face a punishing three weeks of criss-crossing the constituency and pressing the flesh in their quest for a seat in Westminster. The job of trying to hold on to, or even increase, the Liberal Democrats? majority of just under 1,200, falls to David Walter, a former television reporter. He spent the first weekend of the campaign meeting voters in Okehampton, Winkleigh, Mary Tavy, Peter Tavy and Lydford. Mr Walter said the number one issue in voters? minds was the council tax ? Liberal Democrats want to replace it with a local income tax. ?People feel their council tax is too high and are very alarmed by the prospect of revaluation that could make it even higher. Because of rising house prices it will hit this area hard,? he said. Affordable homes, and water rates were other major issues. And the environment ? ?particularly raised by young people? ? was another area of concern. But Mr Walter claimed a majority of people were disillusioned with Labour and the Conservatives. ?Many of them will vote Liberal Democrat, but we have to persuade the others,? he said. Conservative Geoffrey Cox is making his second bid to return the seat to the Tory fold. The 2001 election saw the Liberal Democrat majority cut back, and this time he aims to overtake it ? the constituency is 16th on the Tories? list of target seats. Barrister Mr Cox spent the weekend on the campaign trail in Tavistock and Bideford and said crime was a big issue for voters, even those in the villages. Other major concerns were council tax and water rates, costs that ?fall heavily on people on a fixed income, such as pensioners?. The state of agriculture was also repeatedly raised. ?Farmers are deeply worried about bovine TB and the complexity of the single farm payment system.? He said the response towards the Conservatives was ?incomparably better? than four years ago. ?We?re buoyant and positive, but we?re taking nothing for granted,? he said. ?People are determined that there must be a change ? they want something different and the only practical alternative is the Conservatives.? Labour?s Rebecca Richards, fighting the seat for the first time, was canvassing in Sticklepath and Okehampton at the weekend. She said health and education were among the main issues raised by voters. ?People are quite pleased with Labour?s record in those two areas,? she said. Labour was focussing on what the government had done for pensioners. ?Under a Labour Government there are now free eye tests and TV licences for all over-75 year olds. ?The increase in the state pension in real terms for pensioners in West Devon and Torridge has benefitted 27,352 pensioner households.? The recent budget also gave them a further £200 towards their council tax and free local bus travel. Labour has come third, a long way behind the two main parties in the constituency, and Ms Richards said she was aware it would be ?hard work? for her, but the public?s response was encouraging. UKIP?S Matthew Jackson, a lawyer, fought the seat in the 1997 general election, and says the profile of his party is much higher now ? at last year?s European elections it topped the poll in this constituency. ?We are building on a lot of goodwill,? he said. Mr Jackson spent the weekend canvassing in Tavistock and leafletting in Okehampton, and said the issues raised were the state of farming, public services, wind farms and hunting. He said the proportional representation voting system in the European elections helped UKIP. Under first past the post, attention focussed on the two main parties in the area, but he said a vote for UKIP, which wants complete withdrawal from the EU, would not be wasted. ?Neither the Liberal Democrats nor the Conservatives will form the next government. Voting for us will send a signal to the powers that be in Westminster; voting for the others won?t,? he said. Lecturer Peter Christie, the Green Party candidate, hits out at the suggestion that he will attract votes that would otherwise have gone to the Liberal Democrats. ?There are people who vote for me who would not vote for anyone else, and there are those who say they will vote for me who normally support other parties, including the Tories.? Mr Christie, who is mayor of Bideford, says he has beaten all the other parties in various council elections, and defeated all but the Conservatives when he stood in the old Devon seat in the Euro elections. He said people?s concerns locally centred on council house problems and noisy neighbours. National issues included the problem of affordable homes, the effect of supermarkets on local shops and the lack of differentiation between the three main parties. ?Cynicism is very common,? he said. But there is another politician in many people?s minds at this election; one who is not on the slate of candidates: John Burnett. The retiring MP won respect from supporters of all political parties and those who cared little for politics. He had a considerable personal vote and it is difficult to estimate exactly how much that is worth. But whatever the figure, what will happen to it? Will voters stick with his party, the Liberal Democrats? Will they switch, in some cases, return home, to the Conservatives? Could smaller parties benefit? One thing is certain, whoever wins will be the last MP for West Devon and Torridge ? boundary changes mean the seat as we know it will cease to exist. At the general election in four or five years? time, the new MP will have to seek nomination for one of the newly drawn Devon constituencies. l 2001 result: John Burnett, Liberal Democrat, 23,474; Geoffrey Cox, Conservative, 22,280; David Brenton, Labour, 5,959; Bob Edwards, UKIP, 2,674; Martin Quinn, Green, 1,297.