UKIP believe the Colne Valley general election seat will be a straight fight between them and the Conservatives.
And Melanie Roberts has been chosen as the UKIP candidate after being the only person to “jump through the hoops” to represent the party for the Colne Valley seat at the general election.
She will be up agaisnt the Tory MP Jason McCartney.
Melanie, 62 a mother-of-eight, of Slaithwaite, said: “The process to become candidate has changed and there were several people interested but I was the only candidate to jump through all the hoops.
“I feel it is a huge honour to be adopted as the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Colne Valley.
“There may be comments that I can’t go into battle with Jason, but I tell the story of David and Goliath and that seems to help.
“Of course all parties are contenders, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s between Jason and me, or rather the Conservatives and UKIP – I’m not big headed enough to think it’s all about me.”
She said her campaign has to include Europe, because “it is obvious that what happens here stems from the EU”.
She added: “The EU is key in everything, it’s key in how much money we have to spend and if we can keep our money here then people will have more in their pockets.
“The NHS is important, and again facilities could be improved if we kept more of our money.”
She also said housing and welfare issues could be tackled better if the UK kept more of its cash.
Melanie pledged to take to the streets to campaign between now and the general election.
“The reaction is always different, some people have been stopping me on the towpath when I’m out walking to have a chat and I hope that continues,” she added.
