THE Liberal Democrats will break Labour’s 13-year monopoly on Parliamentary seats in Liverpool, party leader Nick Clegg vowed yesterday.

He said voters in Liverpool felt let down by the Labour party that had come to power in 1997 promising fairness which it had failed to deliver.

Mr Clegg made the new Penny Lane Community Centre, in the Liverpool Wavertree constituency, the first destination in his election tour.

The constituency is the party’s number one target in the North West, and Mr Clegg’s early visit is a sign of the party’s confidence it can prise the seat from Labour.

He said: “For years and years, people here have been taken for granted by Labour. We are going to win this constituency .”

The last Liberal Democrat MP in Liverpool was Lord David Alton, who held office from 1979 to 1997, representing the defunct constituencies of Edge Hill and Mossley Hill.

Mr Clegg said the party was determined to win Wavertree with the party’s candidate Colin Eldridge.

Cllr Eldridge faces Labour’s Luciana Berger, after sitting MP Jane Kennedy decided to stand down.

Labour won the seat in 2005 with a majority of 5,173.

It is estimated boundary changes have effectively eroded the majority to around 3,000.

A 5% swing would see Cllr Eldridge win.

“We are going to [win the seat] by going from door-step to door-step and from street to street.

“I think people feel so angry and let down by Labour in Liverpool. They were promised so much in 1997.

“And after 13 years of Labour we have got lots and lots of young people out of work.

“We stand for the fairness people were promised in 1997 but Labour have failed to deliver.

“Labour has let people down in the North West and people in Liverpool.

“The bottom 20% of people in this country now pay more [proportionally] in tax of their income than the top 20%. We have a grotesque tax system.

“The bankers are gorging themselves on bonuses while people find it hard to pay their bills here.

“We are the only party that plans to give people fairness.”