FORMER Romsey mayor Mark Cooper has been selected as the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Southampton Itchen.

Mr Cooper, 52, of The Thicket, Romsey, has worked in the Itchen constituency for the past 27 years as head of geography at St Mary's College, Bitterne Park.

Married to Sue, a Romsey GP, the couple have five sons aged between six and 21. Mr Cooper has been a councillor on Test Valley Borough Council for 14 years and was leader between 1995 and 1998. In the 1997 general election, he served as Liberal Democrat candidate in the Romsey constituency, achieving a swing of 11.8 per cent from the Conservatives - the tenth highest such swing in the country.

Mr Cooper, a former pupil of Taunton's School, Southampton, said: "Working and travelling in the Southampton Itchen constituency every day for 27 years has given me a unique insight into the nature of the area and the needs of its residents.

"The electorate is dissatisfied with the lack of improvement in the NHS and is not prepared to trust their vote to William Hague."