At the beginning of what is being widely touted as a General Election year, the Liberal Democrats have once again set their targets on the Westmorland and Lonsdale seat.

The party leader, Charles Kennedy, has been quoted as stating that several members of the shadow cabinet could be defeated by the Lib Dems, while closer to home, their candidate Tim Farron is confident he can pull off a winning performance against sitting Conservative MP Tim Collins.

However, Mr Collins, who is also shadow education secretary, said that the Lib Dems made the same predictions in 2001, and he was also confident of his support.

Mr Farron confirmed that five of the party's top target seats belonged to members of the shadow cabinet, including the Tory leader Michael Howard.

Mr Collins's seat was one of those, he said. The results in Westmorland and Lonsdale in 2001 were; Tim Collins 22,486; Tim Farron 19,339; John Bateson, Labour 5,234; Robert Gibson, UK Independence Party, 552; and Tim Bell, Independent 292.

Mr Farron said that the 2001 result, which gave him 40 per cent of the vote and Mr Collins 46 per cent, made the seat the 11th most winnable for the Liberal Democrats as far as the party was concerned.

In addition, Lib Dem headquarters believed that the party members worked hard in the constituency, and so it would be putting in resources, which Mr Farron believed would amount to "a few thousand" pounds.

Well-known names within the party, such as Alan Beith, and the leader Charles Kennedy, would also be making their way to the constituency in a bid to clinch the seat, Mr Farron added.

Mr Farron had a number of statistics at hand to back up his predictions, including the fact that his 2001 result was the best for the party in the constituency since 1906; the Lib Dems had performed well in the European Parliament elections last year; and the fact that the party took 51 per cent of the vote across Westmorland and Lonsdale in the local elections last year, including his own convincing win for the South Lakeland District Council Milnthorpe seat.

He also stressed the number of dedicated party workers that he could call on.

"In the end, the real reason I want to win is the ability to make a difference to the area I have made my home," he said.

Mr Collins said he was not taking anything for granted, but that in every election held in South Lakeland since 2001, the Conservative Party had gained seats and Liberal Democrats lost seats.

Mr Collins said that there were only two dozen constituencies out of 659 where the sitting MP increased his or her vote in 2001 by more than 1,000 votes. He put on just over 1,000 votes.

The Conservatives had many more members than the Lib Dems in the constituency, he added.

"If it was as simple as a party leader announcing he wanted to take a seat and it was automatically the case they got it, things would be a little bit simpler," he said.

"We have been here before they told us how they were targeting it before and they did not get very far."

UKIP and the Labour Party both confirmed they would be fielding candidates in Westmorland and Lonsdale in any forthcoming General Election.

The Labour Party has selected John Reardon, while Robert Gibson will be standing again for UKIP.