THE parliamentary battle for Hereford has become a three horse race.

But new Labour candidate Philippa Roberts knows there’s plenty of ground to cover before the next election.

Miss Roberts, aged 34 and born and brought up in Malvern, was confirmed as the Labour candidate after a short contest.

Now a Kimbolton resident, she bills herself as an environmentalist who wants to combat voter apathy.

Political upheavals recently haven’t dissuaded Philippa from standing in her home county, as she believes politics is changing.

“One of the reasons to stand is to get more people involved. At the moment there’s lot of apathy and negativity,” she said.

“Although politics has a really bad name at the moment, I feel very hopeful about what will happen at the next election.”

Miss Roberts is not the archetypal candidate. She runs a fair trade t-shirt business and joined Labour early this decade after relating with its policies. Her political career has been a whirlwind so far.

She has enjoyed the campaigning and has received a goodwill call from her Conservative rival, Jesse Norman.

Should her Westminster bid fail, Miss Roberts would consider standing as a councillor. She says the next decade will be crucial for Herefordshire, both economically and politically.

“We’re facing some major decisions in this area, and they’re about redevelopment or sustainability,”

she said. “There’s going to be some big consequences.

We live in a beautiful county and the trick is to find a level to keep it environmentally, socially and economically sustainable without damaging it.”

Labour finished third in the 2005 General Election in Hereford. Tom Calver received just 4,800 votes to finish behind the Conservative’s Virginia Taylor (19,323) and the Liberal Democrat winner, Paul Keetch, (20,285), who is standing down at the next election.