Over the next week, our Westminster reporter BILL JACOBS will be putting East Lancashire's election battleground under the microscope. Today he begins a look at the fight for our constituencies with a profile of those bidding for the Blackburn seat Battle for votes gets 'personal' .Jack Straw faces a personal battle to hang on to his Blackburn stronghold -- two of the candidates fighting him are doing so because they don't like him or his policies.

Independent Paul Morris says he decided to stand because so many people in the town and elsewhere didn't like the Home Secretary. And he is asking electors who share that view to vote for him on June 7.

Socialist Alliance candidate Jim Nichol's objections to Mr Straw are more political -- that his law and order policies are hitting the poor and deprived hardest without solving crime, especially youth crime.

The civil liberties lawyer, who helped get Accrington's Peter Fell out of prison for a murder he did not commit, is appalled at the oppressive nature of Mr Straw's words and action towards the young criminal and asylum seekers.

But to make matters worse, the member of the Socialist Workers Party, says that his experience shows the system is neither properly financed nor workable.

When in full flow Mr Nichol, 56, is like most of the hard left, eloquent and plausible, until you analyse his policies. Nevertheless, there will be many discontented Old Labour supporters who feel betrayed by Tony Blair and Mr Straw who will be tempted by the red-blooded Socialist programme being put forward by Mr Nichol.

A similar pitch for the left-wing vote comes from the more diffident candidate for Socialist Labour Terry Cullen. Mr Straw dismisses the personalised nature of these opponents pointing out that as he has six rivals this time against eight in 1997, he must getting more not less popular..

It is unlikely that any of the "Sick of Straw" politicians will break into four figures this time. As he strolled through the town centre after visiting Thwaites brewery, there was little sign of the personal hostility towards him his opponents claim to detect.

Most people recognised him and seem flattered to be chatting to such an important political figure. Mr Straw put the reassuring familiarity of the encounters down to his consistent approach to representing the town and visiting just as regularly in Cabinet as in Opposition -- especially for his town centre soapbox sessions. He rejects claims that Blackburn has been a Labour fiefdom for too long at both council and Westminster level. And he points to the increasing prosperity of the town -- clear from the smartening up to the central area -- as a sign of how things have got better under Labour.

The new Queen's Park Hospital is now under way, education is getting better with extra investment by the Government and pensioners are pleased with the latest increases in their income.

He said: "People remember what happened under the Tories." And he believes that voters appreciate what has been done by the Labour government in general and by him on law and order in particular and are ready to give both a second chance.

The opinion polls tend to support him, but they are dismissed by Tory candidate John Cotton. Hailing from leafy Oxfordshire, he has family in the North-West and has bought a home in Blackburn.

Clearly a serious and ambitious young politician, he is fighting a well organised campaign and has spent as much time in the town as his career as a director of a firm dealing with multi-media resources for the healthcare sector will allow.

As he canvasses Meadowhead ward, the response is good but not quite as good as he likes to claim it. There is discontent over the council's failure to help clean up unadopted back streets, while a few people respond to his call to save sterling.

"Why should we give up our pound?" says on angry individual.

While in keeping with Tory leader William Hague's Eurosceptic line, he is careful to emphasise that there are benefits in Europe -- especially in areas such as Environmental policy -- as befits a man whose MP has been leading pro-European Conservative Michael Heseltine.

There is clearly a mood of optimism among Blackburn's Tories. They can see their traditional vote in working class areas returning and have a good, professional candidate.

President George Kirby sums it up when he says: "This is the best election campaign I have experienced till an excellent local candidate Tom Marsden cut Barbara Castle's majority to under 500."

They may hope that Labour defector Imtiaz Patel, 33, helps by taking some of Mr Straw's votes to the Liberal Democrats, but they also know that UK Independence Party candidate Dorothy Baxter may pinch some of those on the anti-European right.

Mr Patel, who hopes to be seen as a Liberal Democrat candidate who happens to be an Asian, is clearly in for the long haul.

A local man, he clearly believes that if Labour's support starts to crumble, the Lib Dems and not the Tories will be the long-term beneficiaries.

Mr Cotton begs to differ and says that the fact that Mr Straw's actual vote if not majority has declined over the years means he has a real chance of victory if the Tory vote turns out and disaffected townspeople back him.

He muses that even if he failed to win, but cuts Mr Straw's majority it would be "very tempting" to try again next time round.

The Home Secretary doubts that will happen and believes Mr Cotton will be off in search of lusher Tory pastures in the South for a second attempt at becoming an MP.

However,

Mr Imtiaz Patel was incorrectly referred to as Conservative candidate in yesterday's paper, rather than Lib-Dem. We apologise for the error. JACK STRAW

Labour Age: 54.

Family: Married with two children

Profession: former barrister

Did you know? He worked for Labour Cabinet Minister Barbara Castle for years before taking over from her as Blackburn MP JOHN COTTON

Conservative Age: 33

Family: Married with one son

Profession: Company director

Did you know? He is a keen traveller who has visited every continent except the Antarctic. IMTIAZ PATEL

Liberal Democrat Age: 33

Family: Married with two children

Profession: Community health education officer

Did you know? He is a keen cricketer whose hero is Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar

FULL LIST OF CANDIDATES: Dorothy Baxter, UK Independence Party; John Cotton, (Conservative); Terry Cullen (Socialist Labour); Paul Morris (Independent); Jim Nichol (Socialist Alliance); Imtiaz Patel (Liberal Democrat); Jack Straw (Labour). LAST TIME: Straw J W (Labour) 26,141; Sidhu K S (Conservative) 11,690; Fenn S J (Liberal Democrat) 4,490; Bradshaw D P (Referendum Party) 1,892; Wingfield T D (National Democrat) 671; Drummond H M (Socialist Labour) 635; Field R R C (Green) 608; Carmichael-Grimshaw M (Keep Britain Free and Independent) 506; Batchelor W J (Common Sense, Sick of Politicians) 362. MAJORITY: 14,451 Reassuring: Jack Straw, who ejects claims that Blackburn has been a Labour fiefdom for too long