AGONY aunt Claire Rayner gave the Lib Dem campaign a boost in Hampshire yesterday, as the election countdown began in earnest.

The former self-confessed "Labour luvvy" switched allegiance to the Liberal Democrats over Tony Blair's refusal to introduce free personal care for the elderly.

On her flying visit to Hampshire yesterday, pensioners and healthcare were at the top of the agenda.

The first stop was Romsey's White Horse Hotel, for tea and biscuits with seven carers each looking after a husband, wife or parent.

Along with Lib Dem general election candidate Sandra Gidley, the retired nurse quizzed the carers about how their lives could be made easier.

"A woman once wrote to me with problems she had looking after her mum, getting her to eat.

"The doctor used to visit twice a month, and he never once asked how this woman was coping. He forgot that she was a patient too," said Mrs Raynor, now 74.

A Labour supporter for decades, the famous TV agony aunt helped produce a report for the party about long-term care for the elderly.

When the key recommendation, that all nursing care should be free, was scrapped, she turned her back on the party.

"To my rage and fury, washing, feeding and basic needs for an elderly person at home are still not called nursing," she told the carers in Romsey.

Mrs Rayner then joined forces with Eastleigh's general election candidate for the Lib Dems, Chris Huhne, to meet Shopmobility founder Dolly Dawes and check out the accessibility scheme.