CONSERVATIVE heavyweight Iain Duncan-Smith dropped in on a Hampshire constituency to back his party's candidate.

Hours after his party launched its manifesto, the Work and Pensions Secretary ‎visited Hamble Valley Press in Hedge End alongside Mims Davies.

After speaking to staff at the firm, he told the Daily Echo that his party's commitment to fund the NHS by up to £8bn over inflation was "wholly fundable".

He said the money would come from carrying out a similar approach over the past five years, which had seen savings found in all Government departments, including £50bn from his own department over the past five years.

Mr Duncan Smith also gave his backing to Ms Davies, who hopes to seize the Lib Dem-held seat, saying: "Mims has been a fantastic candidate and will be a fantastic MP, she would put Eastleigh on the map in Westminster."

He added that his father had been the final Spitfire fighter ace to fire the iconic aircraft's "guns in anger" in Malaysia in the 1950s and said Eastleigh borough had "changed the course of the Second World War" through its links with the plane, which helped to win the Battle of Britain.

Ms Davies has pledged to put local housing, hospital access issues and roads at the top of her agenda if she is elected.