Miss Great Britain and the Beauties For Britain party to take on daughter of late Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody in by-election

As the main parties square up for a bruising and dirty campaign, Gemma Garrett has promised to put "put beauty back into politics" if she wins the empty seat.

But the candidate tipped to win the working-class constituency is Labour's Tamsin Dunwoody, whose mother, Gwyneth Dunwoody, triggered the by-election with her death at the age of 77.

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The May 22 poll in Crewe and Nantwich will be the next test of the Prime Minister's embattled leadership after his party's local elections meltdown.

Mr Brown will be hoping the 10p tax row will not flare up again in Westminster and damage Labour's chances.

And Miss Garrett could easily hinder Miss Dunwoody's campaign – as the 49-year-old faces an uphill battle to defend a constituency held by her mother with a majority of 7,078 in 2005.

The 26-year-old from Belfast will represent the newly formed Beauties for Britain party.

She has pledged to "help make Westminster as glamorous a place as its fellow European legislatures, where beautiful women abound in the higher echelons of government".

Vowing to "make Britain feel beautiful again", she said: "I may not know a lot about politics yet but I do know about people and how everyone would prefer that Britain looks and feels beautiful instead of dwelling on the ugly and negative side of life and politics.

"I want British politicians to be sexy not sleazy and to show that they really care about women.

"For British politics it's all change at Crewe and I am really looking forward to meeting all the voters there and to showing them the power of beauty."

Meanwhile David Cameron will tour the Cheshire constituency today to fire the first salvo in his battle to snatch the seat from Mr Brown.

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But the Tories will have to see off damaging claims that their candidate, a millionaire barrister who lives 15 miles away from Crewe in the prosperous village of Tarporley, has little understanding of low-income voters.

Tories complained last night that Edward Timpson, an heir to his father's shoe-repair fortune, is the victim of a smear campaign about his work with sex offenders.

They plan to focus on anger over the scrapping of the 10p starting rate of tax, which continues to cause problems for Mr Brown.

Former minister Frank Field confirmed that he will table a critical Commons motion today unless the Government provides more details about how it will compensate the

5.3million hit by the change.

Labour MP Fabian Hamilton warned the party could lose in Crewe unless the Government urgently clarifies what it is doing to clear up the mess.

"A defeat at Crewe and Nantwich, which is unthinkable, would be bad news for the Government,' he told the BBC's World at One.

"There would be quite a few votes lost here if we don't make sure this problem is put right and put right soon."

The Treasury has offered to backdate compensation paid through the Winter Fuel Payment to pensioners on low incomes aged 60-64 who were hit by the changes.

But there is uncertainty about how it will back-date compensation for childless couples on low incomes who are to get help through the tax credit system.

Critics also complain the Treasury has not done enough to identify others who are affected and has not provided assurances that all those who lost out can be helped.

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Labour sources in Crewe last night claimed voters were not raising the 10p issue with them.

They said anti-social behaviour and jobs were bigger concerns.

Ministers and senior MPs also stepped up their efforts to shore up Mr Brown's position.

Tony Lloyd, chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, claimed that the only MPs who wanted to depose the leader were 'malicious' or had ' personality defects'.

But he admitted the PM had not yet managed to communicate effectively with the public.

told the Today programme: "This is quite a complicated Prime Minister who hasn't always set out his vision for the future."

Schools Secretary Ed Balls pledged to "challenge and scrutinize" the Tories to highlight what Mr Brown now says is a clear choice facing the voters.

And although Miss Dunwoody faces a tough challenge, the mother of five's background and experience has left her more than capable to fight what could become a bitter campaign.

Miss Dunwoody was born into Labour aristocracy.

Her father John, an Irish GP, was also an MP, while her mother's father, Morgan Phillips, was Labour general secretary before being made a peer.

Miss Dunwoody was educated at Grey Coat Hospital, a highlyrated Church of England comprehensive in Westminster, and the University of Kent.

She worked in the NHS before entering politics, coming to prominence as a member of the Welsh Assembly for Pembrokeshire - a seat she lost to the Tories in 2007.

With her husband Mark, who runs a kitchen business, she lived near Haverfordwest in the county with her five children - two sons and three daughters - and ten pigs on a smallholding.

Her election made the two women the only motherdaughter combination in elected British politics.

Mrs Dunwoody never disguised the fact that she would have preferred to see her daughter pursue a career at Westminster.

Mrs Dunwoody once said of her daughter: "Having a name that people recognise is a double-edged sword.

"But I don't think she's ever been squashed by it or by me.

"She does her own thing and makes her own decisions." However, in what promises to be a no-holds-barred campaign, the Tories will try to portray Miss Dunwoody as a Brownite stooge who lacks the independent-mindedness of her mother.

Her Tory opponent, Mr Timpson, said: "We need an MP who will stand up to Gordon Brown and his Government.

"Tamsin Dunwoody's career in the Welsh Assembly suggests she won't do that."