JOHN Major is confident that Jeremy Hunt, the Conservative Party's prospective parliamentary candidate for South West Surrey, will triumph at the next election. The former prime minister visited Conservative Party members at the Tilford Institute last Thursday and pledged his support for Mr Hunt, who is battling Simon Cordon of the Liberal Democrats for the important South West Surrey seat. At the 2001 election, the Corden-led Liberal Democrats reduced the Conservatives' majority to just 861 votes, a record low. Yet Mr Major was in buoyant mood about his party's chances this year. "I would be astonished if we didn't win this seat by a comfortable majority. "I'd be very surprised if the 3,000 or so Tory voters that turned out in the 1997 election, but not in 2001, don't come back," he said. Mr Major's visit coincided with the media frenzy concerning his part in "Black Wednesday". He had admitted to the media that he wrote a letter offering his resignation to the Queen over Britain's ejection from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992. Speaking at Tilford, he denied this information would damage the Conservative Party's election campaign. "Most of the people who vote have forgotten all about that and a large number of them were in school when those events happened. So I don't think there will be the slightest impact on the election," he said. The "Black Wednesday" papers were released through the new Freedom of Information Act. Mr Major said he has no objection to the legislation in principle, but believes that the current Labour government is manipulating it to discredit the Conservative Party. "You cannot have an act that is trained in function to operate against previous governments and in favour of the existing government," he stated. "The government has been exposed pretty comprehensively over the last few days with the dirty tricks they have been playing. "They are not the first and won't be the last and I think people find that distasteful," he added. Virginia Bottomley, who is retiring from the SW Surrey seat, making way for Jeremy Hunt, is full of praise for her potential successor. "What we are seeking to do, with Jeremy as our candidate, is a whole rejuvenation of the Conservative Party locally. Out with the old and in with the new," she explained. Mr Hunt is keen to carry on her work. "I have been Virginia's apprentice for three years and I have learnt a huge amount. I want to build on her good work," he said. He said his campaign will be based on issues that are of importance to the local community. "What people feel is that they live in a very beautiful area. But it's an area where they are increasingly having to fight for things that up to now they have taken for granted," he explained. "People are worried about a huge increase in traffic. They are worried about huge housing targets that have been imposed on the area by the unelected South East of England Regional Assembly. They are looking at that and asking if places like Farnham are going to be beautiful towns in 10 or 20 years' time," he added. Mr Hunt is confident that if he is elected he will be able to tackle such concerns. "I think people want someone who is going to fight, to preserve what is special about the area. I think the election will be partly about personality, but I think it will also be about firepower," he stated. His firepower has been boosted Mr Major's support and the former prime minister used the opportunity to launch a scathing attack on the Liberal Democrats. "I asked for details about the Liberal Democrats. What promises they have made and what promises they have kept. "There is very little correlation between the two," he said. "I think people have seen how they have failed. I am not sure that it is a great vote winner for them to say they are going to put up taxes. I don't think that denying choice in education is going to prove a very great vote winner for them in their constituencies," he added. "People talk to me about their disillusionment and dislike of the way this government behaves. "I think that the government could be in for a very nasty surprise come election day. That is why I am so confident about this seat," he said.