Michael Ashcroft, the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, is set to become the majority shareholder of Watford Football Club.

The second division side said on March 14, 2006 their parent company has launched a rights issue to raise more than six million pounds to wipe out their bank overdraft and increase working capital.

Ashcroft will then own up to 42 percent of the club's shares through his investment company, Fordwat, which is underwriting the rights issue.

"This is an important step to achieve our goals," Mark Ashton, chief executive of Watford Football Club, said in a telephone interview.

Watford Leisure plc, the club's parent company, reported a trading loss of 2.2 million pounds in the year to June 2005, compared to a loss of 4.6 million pounds in 2004 and 10.3 million in 2003.

"Watford is a good business that is making steady and sure progress," Ashcroft said in a statement released by the club.

He stressed that the investment by Fordwat was not going to lead to him taking over the football club.

Ashcroft is one of the country's richest men and has been a member of the upper House of Lords since 2000. He has a track record of backing entrepreneurial businesses and has owned shares in Watford since the company was listed in August 2001.

Watford are challenging for promotion to the Premier League and are in fourth place in the second division with 69 points. They were relegated in 2000.

The club was owned by Elton John when they reached the 1984 FA Cup Final, which they lost 2-0 to Everton.

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