Grandson of Sir Winston Churchill: We will never be overshadowed

On a visit to Dudley, Sir Nicholas Soames acknowledged the timing of polling day, May 7, was 'inconvenient' for people who wanted to celebrate VE Day on May 8.

But he said the world would not allow the election to stop it from marking the defeat of Adolf Hitler and the end of hostilities in Europe during the Second World War.

Conservative MP Sir Nicholas, the 67-year-old son of the wartime leader's youngest daughter Mary Soames, said there was nothing that could be done to move the election because of the introduction of a law by the coalition government that fixed the date as long ago as 2010.

The former armed forces minister and shadow defence secretary was visiting the Black Country with Afzal Amin, a former soldier and the Conservative candidate for Dudley North.

He was accompanied by a bagpiper in full tartan regalia before making a speech to shoppers.

Speaking to the Express & Star in the Churchill Shopping Centre, named after his grandfather, Sir Nicholas said: "The date of the election is set in tablets of stone.

"There's nothing anyone can do about that.

"I will be going immediately after the election to a far off place to represent the government.

"I ran the last celebrations for the 50th anniversary in 1995 and they are the most wonderful events, not only here but around the world.

"It isn't ideal. It's inconvenient timing but that's the way it is and we won't let it stop us.

"One has to think about how many more of these there are likely to be with the veterans, given their age."

Sir Nicholas presented a painting to the shopping centre done by a soldier in 1943, showing a map of England with place names of the faces of prominent people where they were born, including his grandfather in Oxfordshire and the words 'Black Country'.