City lawyer Simon Randall flew to the US last week to assist with Democrat candidate John Kerry's presidential campaign - despite having twice stood as an MP for the Conservative party.


Mr Randall, a partner and head of housing and local government at Lawrence Graham, joined a team of lawyers in the swing state of Ohio acting as observers monitoring the election process. The lawyers were there to ensure that polling stations stayed open and machines were working properly.



Mr Randall told the Gazette: 'I have been a member of a local authority for 20 years and was a member of the Greater London Authority, as well as having stood as an MP twice a long time ago.



White House: City lawyer in the US to assist John Kerry
'I decided to go and assist the Kerry campaign because I am very keen on his environmental views.'



He added: 'Legal issues such as gay marriage, abortion and the war with Iraq have been important in the campaign.'



President Bush and Senator Kerry both lined up heavyweight teams of lawyers in anticipation of disputes over electoral irregularities, with Mr Kerry quoted as saying: 'You know, I have 10,000 lawyers who are going to be out there in America on election day, working to protect people's constitutional rights.'



Among the potential areas for skirmishes were requirements for first-time voters to bring identification and whether voter registration forms had been filled out correctly. Florida and Iowa were among the states to have already seen preliminary disputes reach the courts prior to Tuesday's election.