“PUNISH Chris Huhne.”

This is the rallying cry of the National Liberal Party which has one goal this election – to remove Eastleigh’s high-ranking Liberal Democrat.

The NLP has only about 50 members and is focusing its entire campaign on snatching vital votes from Mr Huhne, the Lib Dem’s home affairs spokesman and former leadership contender.

NLP national secretary David Durrant said the party was fielding Keith Low, its only candidate, as a protest against the Lib Dems for voting for the EU Lisbon Treaty without a referendum.

The campaign is called Target Huhne.

He said: “I’m not going to go along with the charade that most parties do, we haven’t got a hope of winning but we want to show voters there is more than one kind of Liberal you can vote for and take votes from Chris Huhne.

“Our motto is: Punish Huhne, vote Low.”

Mr Durrant said he thought the protest vote campaign would “make a difference” as Mr Huhne won the Eastleigh seat with a majority of just 568 in 2005.

NLP candidate Keith Low said: “MPs like Chris Huhne give Liberalism a bad name – promise something to get a vote but do the exact opposite when elected.

“Not all Liberals are so dishonest or so eager to surrender our sovereignty to the EU.

“I urge all liberty lovers and Eurosceptics to back my campaign.”

Mr Huhne said he was not threatened by the minor party.

He said: “To suggest I have reneged on promises is rubbish.

This party should not be confused with the national liberals in years gone by, they draw their support from the extreme far right and I think voters will see through them.”