Lord boosts fight

Lord Pearson, right, is pictured in Uppermill, supporting candidate Paul Nuttall, left, with millionaire Stuart Wheeler, the party’s new treasurer

A Scottish lord came to Oldham East and Saddleworth to boost the UK Independence Party’s by-election campaign.

Lord Pearson of Rannoch, UKIP’s leader in the House of Lords, spoke out during a visit to support candidate Paul Nuttall.

Lord Pearson, who famously said he was not much good at party politics before he stepped down as UKIP’s national leader last year, claimed Prime Minister David Cameron has “reigned his troops in” to help his Lib-Dem coalition partners in their fight for the seat.

He was accompanied for canvassing in the Lees Road area by spread-betting tycoon Stuart Wheeler, who has become the UKIP’s new treasurer.

Lord Pearson added: “We have to get ourselves out of the wretched EU. I hope there will be a huge increase in the UKIP vote and people give the failed old parties a kick up the bottom.”

Lord Pearson, right, is pictured in Uppermill, supporting candidate Paul Nuttall, left, with millionaire Stuart Wheeler, the party’s new treasurer