WHILE the main parties dream of taking power in Parliament, many others have set their goal at winning just one seat. The Greens, Respect and scores of independents campaign in the hope that realising that ambition is just around the corner.

If they were to pull it off, it would mark a historic groundshift in Westminster. If they even come close, this election will be almost as interesting at the fringes as at the centre.

A flock of new parties — the highest number in the Electoral Commission’s history — have registered this year, a fact seen as a by-product both of disillusion with a third-term Labour Government and a shift from the tribal party ties of old.

Independent candidates may stand a better chance alone, without the money and organisation of a small party.

Dr Richard Taylor, the independent who won Wyre Forest in 2001 on a Save Kidderminster Hospital ticket, plans to run again. But like Martin Bell and others before him, he benefited from having one of the mainstream parties standing aside.

The difficulty for new parties is that at a general election, unlike local or European elections, people do not tend to experiment with their vote.

Although UKIP overshadows them in terms of publicity, the Greens could do well in the Brighton Pavilion constituency, where they topped the poll in the European elections. Their candidate, Keith Taylor, came fourth in 2001, taking almost 10 per cent of the vote.

Although their coffers are not bulging, they will field some 170 candidates and have persuaded Alex Cox, the film director, to make a party political broadcast for them.

Peter Cranie, head of the Green election campaign, said: “I think there’s a growing disillusionment, not just with Labour, but with politics in general, since 2001. I think we can finish at least second in a number of seats.”

The other big difference is the Iraq war, which has left many Labour voters in the mood to register a protest vote, but unwilling to vote Conservative. In his Sedgefield constituency, Tony Blair will face two anti-war independents, one the father of a soldier killed in Iraq.

Oona King, the pro-war Labour MP, is the subject of a particularly aggressive campaign from her former colleague, George Galloway, and his anti-war Respect party in Bethnal Green.

Respect has selected just under 30 candidates and tends to galvanise the Muslim vote. It is campaigning in similar seats to the British National Party, which is expected to field around 100 candidates. Neither has much of a hope of winning a seat in inner-city, ethnically mixed areas, but their joint presence turns up the heat and polarises the vote. And even if alternative parties do not win, they can stop the favourite from doing so.

As Ms King said through gritted teeth of Mr Galloway: “It’s going to be a fun election.”

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