MUCH to the discomfort of its opponents, the Countryside Alliance has unearthed a real gem in the shape of its new leader Kate Hoey.

Although "unearthed" is rather a disingenuous term to use about someone who has been a national politician for 17 years and a local one in London for 20 years before that. She was one of the best Sports Ministers Britain ever had, until her love of country sports proved one sporting arena too far for Tony Blair.

Affable, approachable and a consummate professional, who is only too happy to allow a pressurised press photographer time to do their job, you can't play the class card against Kate Hoey. Not unless you want egg on your face.

For as Audrey Steel, chairman of the Worcestershire branch of the CA, said when introducing her to a regional meeting at Worcester Rugby Club, Kate is the complete antithesis of what "the antis" like to promote as a typical hunting, shooting, fishing type.

She is neither a what they call a "Tory toff" nor a "Hooray Henrietta".

Kate is Irish, a countrywoman to the core and a fully paid up member of the Labour Party. As is, she is quick to point out, Baroness Mallalieu, the CA's president.

"The idea the Countryside Alliance is run by the Conservative Party is complete nonsense," she said.

The daughter of a farmer who grew up hunting on her pony in Northern Ireland, Kate knows how to milk cows and farrow pigs, which are certainly not skills naturally associated with a Labour politician, although that in itself might be unfair.

Nevertheless she has a deep love of the countryside; something that is not automatically linked with Labour and its urban image.

Her constituency, however, is pure Labour heartland. Vauxhall, south London, contains some tough inner-city areas where shootings involve people not pheasants.

The reason why she is there, rather than in some leafy shires backwater, is that her pre-political career was as a PE teacher in London schools. Indeed, for four years in the late 1980s, Kate was educational advisor to Arsenal Football Club.

She is fighting from within to change her party's approach to the countryside. A battle in which, contrary to popular perception, she is not alone.

"It's surprising how many Labour supporters there are in the Countryside Alliance," she said. "And why not. The Alliance is not a political party and there is no reason why anyone from any political persuasion should not join.

"In fact, there are probably as many Alliance members in my constituency as there are members of the Labour Party. And certainly more than in the Tory Party."

Of course, when you mention the Countryside Alliance you automatically think "hunting" and its opponents have been at pains to make the case for it being a single issue organisation, a front for the red coat brigade.

"There is no doubt, hunting is the thread that binds everything together and it has been the subject most in the news because of the publicity surrounding the Hunting Act, but had the Alliance been single issue, there is no way it could have survived, let alone prospered.

"We are involved in a whole raft of subjects. One I am particularly interested in is the disappearance of rural post offices. And urban ones come to that.

"Also there is the concreting over of the countryside. Once you build over something you will never get it back. The trouble is, it is too easy to build on greenfield sites."

Expect the CA under Hoey to be vocal in its opposition to John Prescott's bulldozers.

Also, expect her to campaign against the EU's involvement with British agriculture.

"Why allow them to take it over when we ran it so successfully ourselves," she added.

She would prefer to see money from the Common Agricultural Policy to see going to small organic enterprises rather than large, industrial sized farms.

But when all the dust has settled, the current talk all comes back to hunting.

"The Hunting Act must be repealed," Kate maintained. "It was flawed in so many ways - libertarian, welfare and wildlife management. All hunts have agreed to operate within the law, but ultimately it will fail."

With those who argue it is best not to rock the boat, lest moves are made to "tighten up" the legislation, she disagrees.

"I cannot detect any great enthusiasm in Parliament now to become involved with hunting a second time," she said.

"There is a new intake since the last election and many of them are not at all convinced a hunting ban was the best use of parliamentary time. I am sure Tony Blair does not want to become embroiled in hunting again."

She advocates the best way forward is to keep chipping away, prove the legislation is unworkable and eventually get it dumped in favour of a more realistic system.

With Hoey in the driving seat, the Countryside Alliance has suddenly gone up a gear.