kennedy begins pre-election tour liberal democrat leader charles kennedy has begun a week-long tour to persuade voters they are the  real opposition .  mr kennedy is visiting constituencies in somerset and hampshire on monday - rural seats where his party is hoping to make gains from the conservatives. later he will visit places  such as liverpool  where labour is targeted. labour say a lib dem vote could  let the tories in   while the tories say the lib dems would mean  higher taxes  soft crime laws  more power to europe . mr kennedy s tour comes as he  labour leader tony blair and conservative leader michael howard all step up campaigning ahead of the next general election  widely expected to be held on 5 may. on tuesday mr kennedy will visit leicester south  where lib dem mp parmjit singh gill overturned a big labour majority to win the seat in last year s by-election.  stops in shrewsbury  north dorset  liverpool  manchester  basingstoke and west london are planned for later in the week. the liberal democrats say in the northern cities  the race is between them and labour  while in southern seats - particularly the south west - it is between them and the tories. speaking to the bbc s westminster hour on sunday  mr kennedy said the upcoming general election - widely tipped for 5 may - would be much more unpredictable than any others in  recent experience . asked whether it was realistic to assume the liberal democrats could win the general election  he said:  there s no limit to the ambitions we have as a party.  but we have got to be responsible  we have got to be credible  we have got to demonstrate to people that we are up to that task.   mr kennedy said the british public felt let down by labour on issues from iraq to top-up fees and the conservatives were not  asking the critical questions . and he said people were  highly sceptical  about labour and conservative promises on tax. but he brushed off labour suggestions a vote for his party would mean letting the tories in  by the back door .  if you look at the four previous parliamentary by-elections  the liberal democrats have demonstrated that  not only can we leapfrog the conservatives where we start in a third place position  but we can go on to defeat the government.  that s going to be the story  i think  of this coming general election.