The former railway town of Eastleigh is this week at the centre of Liberal Democrat hopes to avoid electoral meltdown at the next General Election.

The by-election triggered by the disgrace and resignation of Chris Huhne is "the biggest test we've faced since 2010", one senior LibDem told The Herald at the party's campaign HQ on an industrial estate. "And that is saying something".

The Liberals see Eastleigh, in Hampshire, as a dry run for a series of election strategies, some adopted from Barack Obama's successful re-election, they intend to adopt in 2015. The stakes are high as the party is suffering dire poll ratings and still reeling from 2011's disastrous Scottish parliament elections.

Hopes that Eastleigh could prove a turning point have also been thrown into jeopardy by allegations this week that the party's former chief executive Lord Rennard sexually harassed a number of women.

But on the streets of the constituency last week, Eastleigh voters appeared to be unconcerned with scandals.

They shrugged off Mr Huhne's admission that he lied about the fact his wife took his speeding penalty points on her driving licence.

"Politicians are all the same, aren't they?" said Anne Jones, 46, a care worker, who said she had voted LibDem in the past but had yet to make up her mind for Thursday's vote.

Retired Bob Moore, 70, described himself as a floating voter, but said Mr Huhne would not put him off the LibDems.

Once a Conservative safe seat, Eastleigh is now a Tory/ LibDem marginal and the first time the two parties have been in competition since 2010.

The constituency contains both the town of Eastleigh, as well as leafy areas such as the yachting centre of Hamble.

But the Liberals are strong locally, having every seat on the local council. Two years from now the LibDems plan a series of mini by-elections in this kind of constituency to "dig in" in areas where it has a strong local following.

Techniques imported from the Obama campaign include improved targeting of voters.

"In the past although we went ultra local we would have targeted every voter," a LibDem source said. "In Eastleigh it is much more targeted. We know where our potential voters are and who they are. So, depending on their ages, two people could get different literature from us."

The approach appears in marked contrast to the Tories. When London mayor Boris Johnson invited the press to watch him canvass in one Eastleigh housing estate, he struggled to find a Tory voter.