THIS was one of the key questions posed by members of the public at a questions and answer session with parliamentary candidates for Southampton Test yesterday.

About 120 people turned out to the event at St James Methodist Church in Shirley despite the downpours putting a dampener on the afternoon.

Peter Day for the UKIP party, Stephen MacLoughlin for the Conservatives, Steve Sollitt for the Liberal Democrats, John Spottiswoode for the Green Party and Alan Whitehead for Labour all attended the event where they were grilled on a range of issues.

Questions ranged from the candidates' stance on abortion to why students should vote Labour when it is the only party which endorses tuition and top-up fees.

After 90 minutes of policy-related questions the final question came from Sarah Curl from Shirley. The charity manager from Shirley asked what each of the candidates would do to put Southampton back on the map.

"Southamp-ton is no longer the home of ocean sailing and after today's 4-1 defeat our football team may soon no longer have Premiership status," she said. "How would you put Southampton back on the map?"

Peter Day said that Southampton is a fantastic place of huge historical importance and that losing Premiership status would 'not make a jot of difference', while Steve Sollitt said his party aimed to work with the present Liberal Democrat council to bring back some of the lost glory to the city.

John Spottiswoode said he would like to see the city building links with the Third World.

Stephen MacLoughlin referred to Southampton's FA Cup Final win in 1976 and said: "If next year they were to win it that would definitely put us back on the map!"

For Alan Whitehead the answer was simple: buy a new football team for the city!

For more coverage on the 2005 General Election - see pages 8 & 9 of today's Daily Echo.