General Election 2015: Will Danny Alexander weather the storm in new battle for Culloden?

I was, they told me, to attach no significance to the fact that Team Danny Alexander was promising to take me canvassing at Culloden.

Was this meant to show that forces loyal to London, in the shape of Danny, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, were again going to crush a force of insurgent Scottish nationalists?

Or were we about to witness the revenge of the nationalist Highlanders? Would SNP challenger Drew Hendry avenge the fallen warriors of 1746, decapitating the Union-supporting Lib Dem minister by removing him from his source of power, the seat of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey?

None of the above, insisted Graeme Littlejohn, the head of Mr Alexander’s campaign office. “We just planned to go to Culloden today.” But he was grinning broadly, in an office displaying signs of a mischievous sense of humour. On the wall, beside a picture of Mr Alexander, was a poster advertising Ginger Rodent, the beer brewed in honour of the insult coined by Labour’s Harriet Harman.

Mr Littlejohn also revealed that his candidate had recently helped launch Beaker, a cocktail referencing his unflattering, Muppet-based nickname. Beaker, the drink, was apparently proving popular in Inverness. But Beaker the man? Not so much, it seemed – or at least not on the evidence of the tour of city-centre houses arranged by Mr Hendry of the SNP.

Inside the home of Elizabeth Mackay, it felt easy to believe a poll which in February had put Mr Hendry 29 points ahead, more than enough to destroy Mr Alexander’s once-healthy 8,765 majority. Who would Mrs Mackay, her niece Karen Kean, 34, and her husband, Allan Kean, 33, vote for? “Not Lib Dem!” they chorused.

“Danny Alexander’s not thinking about us in the Highlands any more,” said Mrs Mackay, a former housekeeper. Mr Hendry had sympathised with her about the high cost of fuel. “He’s very nice,” said Mrs Mackay. “I think I’m voting for him.”

The more doors you knocked at, the more you felt like agreeing with commentators who have dismissed Mr Alexander as “electoral toast”. Even voters who liked him delivered their compliments with more than a little backhand. Kati Ranicar, 33, had met the Lib Dem incumbent through her work as a creative manager at Inverness’s Eden Court Theatre. “I don’t mind him,” she said. “I don’t have the hatred for him that a lot of people seem to have.”

Mr Hendry, 50, leader of the Highland Council, said: “We are getting people who opposed independence, former Lib Dems, people of all parties and none. Because the Lib Dems propped up the Tory Government to impose policies that no one round here likes, I absolutely believe we will win.”

But wasn’t it time to discover Mr Alexander’s fate at Culloden where up to 2,000 Highlanders had been slain in the 18th-century battle? One thing swiftly became obvious: whatever Highlanders at Culloden thought about Scottish nationalism in 1746, they weren’t keen on it now.

“No! I am not voting SNP!” snapped Heather McCracken, 66, the moment she spotted the canvassers. The retired teacher’s attitude softened when she realised they were working for Mr Alexander: “I will quite probably be voting for him. I think he has done some good for this area.”

Her views were echoed constantly. This area, like much of the constituency, was fairly rural, small-c conservative. And here they seemed to think Mr Alexander had used his clout to help them – they cited things like working to raise the income tax threshold to £10,000, helping many low-paid Highlands workers.

Unlike the battle of Culloden, this will be no rout. The Lib Dem campaigners still dare think that they could be celebrating a Danny Alexander victory. Though not necessarily with a pint of Ginger Rodent.

Fourth largest constituency in the UK in terms of area, covering 1,912 square miles, taking in Loch Ness and the Cairngorms National Park, where Mr Alexander served as head of communications before becoming an MP.

Number of voters: 79,000

Held by: Danny Alexander, since 2005.

Challengers: polls suggest Drew Hendry of the SNP is the strongest challenger, but Alexander also faces competition from Tory Edward Mountain, Labour’s Mike Robb, Les Durance of Ukip, and the Green’s Isla O’Reilly.

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