Battleground Anglia: Basildon South & Thurrock East
The seat is predominantly made up of wards from Basildon. Although this Essex seat covers much of the same area of East Thurrock that was contained within the old Basildon seat, it includes only the southern suburbs of Basildon, plus Pitsea, which was formerly in the Billericay constituency.
Stanford-le-Hope is the major town. There is some farmland in the north, but the southern area is dominated by commercial and industrial activity on the northern bank of the Thames.
There is a concentrated area of commercial and industrial activity along the North Thames riverside, which includes the Coryton oil refinery area.
Conservative majority in 2010: 5,772
Basildon South and Thurrock East is Labour target number 14 of the 66 seats in the Anglia region
Labour would need a swing of 6.5% to win in 2015 and the Lib Dems would need a 15% swing
The old Basildon seat was something of a bellwether constituency that followed the mood of the nation at each election.
The new South Basildon and East Thurrock seat was won by Conservative Stephen Metcalfe in 2010. He beat the sitting Labour MP Angela Smith who now sits in the House of Lords as Baroness Smith of Basildon.
The constituency contains five wards from the Basildon council area and six wards from the Thurrock Council area. In the most recent council elections in May 2014, UKIP gained the largest share of the vote in both council areas with a 39% share.
Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft has been conducting opinion polls in marginal seats across the UK.
A snapshot poll conducted in this constituency in February 2015 suggested the Conservatives were in the lead on 35%, UKIP second on 29% and Labour on 28%.
Candidates in 2015
Stuart Hooper - Independent
Mike Le-Surf - Labour
Ian Luder - UKIP
Stephen Metcalfe - Conservative
Kerry Smith - Independent
Geoff Williams - Liberal Democrats
None Of The Above X