THERE is a topical flavour at Launceston's Lawrence House Museum — to coincide with the General Election, the downstairs exhibition room is devoted to a display entitled 'Politics in Launceston 1295–2015'.

The posters, photographs and leaflets that make up the exhibition provide a fascinating insight into the political battles fought in the town, dating from the Middle Ages.

But it is the displays from the political contests of the 19th Century that reveal a campaign dripping with vitriol.

Details are given of the great election of 1832, the year of the Reform?Act, when Whig reformer David Howell campaigned against Tory Sir Henry Hardinge. Rival publications for each poltical camp went straight for the jugular in language that makes the current Cameron-Miliband clash look like a lovers' tiff.

The 'Reformer', for Howell, branded the opposition as 'infamous blasphemers . . . foaming at the mouth with madness'. Not be outdone, the pro-Reform 'Guardian' dubbed the rival editor as a 'shuffling fellow who lies by half' and a 'slanderous slimy reptile'.

For the full report, and a round-up of the area news and sport, see this week's edition of the Post.