ROYLE Family actor Ricky Tomlinson yesterday gave his support to Arthur Scargill who is attempting to unseat Peter Mandelson in Hartlepool, and called on the left to unite.

The actor who plays the foul-mouth couch-potato Jim Royle in the hit comedy series said: "To me, what has come out of this campaign is the need to unite the left. There are several socialist parties this time around and the differences are minuscule to be honest.

"If they all pooled their resources they could form a strong campaign - just look at what Arthur has achieved in the last four years."

In Hartlepool, Mr Scargill is being challenged by independent John Booth who is standing on an unashamedly Old Labour ticket, which includes renationalisation of the railways.

In Darlington, Middlesbrough, North Tyneside and Tyne Bridge, the defending Labour MPs are being challenged by candidates from Mr Scargill's Socialist Labour Party and candidates from the Socialist Alliance, an umbrella grouping of various left-wing organisations.

In Newcastle East, Nick Brown is standing against Blanch Carpenter, from Mr Scargill's party, and Martin Levy of the Communist Party.

To give Mr Scargill a better chance in Hartlepool, Mr Tomlinson called on the other candidates to withdraw and give the miners' leader a head-to-head fight against Mr Mandelson.

He said: "I think Arthur has got a tremendous chance. He has never wavered in his beliefs or gone back on his word, which is quite unique for a politician.

"I think he will win the vote of everyone who is interested in politics because he is the most genuine of the candidates and the only real socialist.

"It's not too late for the other candidates to withdraw and support Arthur's campaign."

Mr Tomlinson, who appeared in Mr Scargill's election broadcast, had some harsh words for Mr Mandelson. "I don't think people are daft and they can see through the spin, New Labour is all about spin now and of course Peter Mandelson is the king of spin," he said.

"New Labour is all about kissing babies and stage management and there is no real substance to anything they do."

He added: "Mr Mandelson is like Teflon, nothing sticks to him. I am sure he will be back in the cabinet for a third time before long."

And in true Jim Royle style, he finished by saying Mr Mandelson had done "b***** all" for the people of Hartlepool.

Read more about the Election here.