Rising cost of living tops agenda in Crewe

By Katherine Baldwin

CREWE (Reuters) - "I've got a pasty, 80 pence worth of chips and a small tin of peas," said pensioner Patrick Sutton, clutching a white plastic bag with his lunch supplies. "I can't afford much more."

Sutton, a 60-year-old former coalman, echoed many voters in Crewe and Nantwich on Thursday when he put the rising cost of living at the top of his worry list.

"Last week I spent 38 pounds on groceries. For the same shopping basket this week it was 42," he added, resting on a bench in the northern railway town, as activists rushed by wearing coloured rosettes in a bid to woo floating voters.

People in working class Crewe and the more affluent market town of Nantwich are feeling the pinch and many said they would be supporting the candidate they believed would be on their side as the economy takes a downturn and inflation spikes.

Rising fuel and food costs were the main culprits of their reduced spending power, locals said. Taxi drivers were especially annoyed.

"I have to pay 20 or 30 pounds more a week for diesel to do the same work I did six months ago," said 63-year-old Terry Clorley, who has a regular spot in the taxi rank in Crewe town centre.

Crewe and Nantwich was considered a "safe" Labour seat, held by no-nonsense MP Gwyneth Dunwoody for 34 years. She died last month, aged 77. There is a street named after her -- Dunwoody Way.

Her daughter Tamsin, a 49-year-old single mum, hopes to pick up where her mother left off but Conservative Party candidate Edward Timpson, 34, is hoping for a huge swing in his direction.