LIBERAL Democrat leader Nick Clegg has ordered his party to target the Sheffield Central seat in the run up to the next general election.
Mr Clegg, the MP for Sheffield Hallam, believes his party has a golden opportunity to extend its influence in the city.
The current Sheffield Central MP Richard Caborn is retiring, and the Lib Dems require a 7.57 per cent swing to snatch the seat
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They have been buoyed by taking control of Sheffield Council this year and believe boundary changes favour a challenge in the seat. The redrawn constituency, which currently has a 7,000 Labour majority, loses the traditionally Labour-supporting Burngreave area but gains the student area around Broomhill.
Mr Clegg used his summer message to his party to order it to divert resources away from Conservative-held constituencies and focus on 50 Labour-held seats where he believes his party can win.
He has told party members that Labour's current weakness - with continued speculation around Gordon Brown's leadership - was "a huge opportunity for us".
He said: "There is no point voting Labour any more. There are no safe Labour seats. They will lose every by-election they fight in this parliament. And at the next general election they will lose in their heartlands."
He added: "This is a huge opportunity. We've got to seize it. So I'm shifting our resources to put more campaigners and more effort into those seats where we're taking on Labour."
But Labour has hit back, with Mr Caborn accusing Mr Clegg of "arrogance".
He said: "We always welcome a good fight. They have fought Sheffield Central every time and they have failed miserably. "
Labour's candidate to replace Mr Caborn is Paul Blomfield, the chairman of Sheffield Labour Party.
Mr Blomfield, who will be up against the Lib Dem Sheffield Council leader Paul Scriven, said: "Everybody knows the next general election will determine whether there is a Tory government or a Labour government.
"I am not surprised Nick Clegg is shifting his resources from fighting the Tories to fighting Labour.
"He has made it clear he would be prepared to prop up a Tory government - and that is the one thing people in Sheffield Central do not want."
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