Having joined the Labour party at the age of 15, Dan Roper has a lengthy political history for a 36-year-old, but it is the Liberal Democrats rosette which he now wears.

Having joined the Labour party at the age of 15, Dan Roper has a lengthy political history for a 36-year-old, but it is the Liberal Democrats rosette which he now wears.

A parish councillor for Old Catton in 1996 at the age of 22, under the Labour banner, he subsequently served as a Norwich City councillor for Labour from 2000 to 2002.

He resigned from Labour the day of the Iraq invasion in March 2003 'as a matter of principle', but rejoined in 2005 to support Ian Gibson's candidacy in Norwich North.

He stood for Labour in the Broadland District Council elections of 2007 in Sprowston East but resigned again, this time in the modern way, via Facebook, in December 2007.

Over the years he had been a member of the campaign team for Dr Gibson at four general elections.

Contact with Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg and Brian Watkins, Liberal leader at Norwich City Council, contributed to his decision to pursue an MP's job for the party.

Broadland - where he lives - was 'the only seat I would have stood in,' he says.

A down to earth style developed partly through his work as a probation officer, allied with a clear enjoyment of meeting people will help him connect with constituents, he said.

And although he insists he is 'in this to win it', he also admits that 'getting within range, perhaps five or 10 per cent', would be a good result because it should lead to the national party adopting it as a key seat for the next election.