Labour parliamentary candidate Markus Campbell-Savours campaign launch

Markus Campbell-Savours, who already a member of Cumberland Council, is the Labour prospective Parliamentary candidate (PCC), and will be standing in the Penrith and Solway constituency.

As well as Penrith he also visited locations in west Cumbria and, at each place, he stood on a soapbox to help spread his message.

It was a technique borrowed from his father, Dale Norman Campbell-Savours, who was the MP for Workington from 1979 to 2001 and currently sits in the House of Lords.

Speaking at the launch he said: "Today we have been doing our campaign launch. We started in Maryport at 10am with our soapbox and me and our police, fire and crime candidate, Dave Allen, have been out on the soapbox telling people our priorities for the area.

Markus Campbell-Savours (Image: Newsquest)

"I am going with a campaign method that is considered to be old fashioned by some people, but we believe it is important to be on the streets speaking to people and letting them know that we are there, readily accessible for them, listening to their views."

He said he grew up with his father's soapbox sitting in the garage and he remembered that it was brought out every General Election. He said there were a few boxes over the years which were given to there candidates elsewhere in the country. "It's a bit of a family tradition this," he added.

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He said it had been a mixed response and added: "I think it's been a mixture of really positive and they are liking the fact that we are on the streets talking and being bold and quite brave about our messages but I think there have been some people who, if anything, have been puzzled by it.

"It's not something they are used to seeing and it's the politics of old. It's a shame really because I think it's a great way to tell people what we are about."

He said: "I am looking forward to the election very much. I think the sooner that Rishi Sunak calls it the better. There are things that we want to get on with as a Labour Government and we can't do it until he's called that election."