Battleground Anglia: Mid Bedfordshire

A mostly rural and uniformly middle class and affluent constituency. Mid Bedfordshire is situated to the east of Milton Keynes, and its north meets with the county town seat of Bedford. It contains the three small towns of Flitwick, Ampthill and Shefford all with populations under 15,000.

The constituency as a whole is well-served by transport links, straddles the M1 and has direct rail services from the main towns to London. There are, therefore, high levels of commuting to larger employment centres within the county and beyond.

Local jobs are in agriculture, market gardening, tourism and education, with some light industry and retail employment in Ampthill.

Quarrying and brickworks are major local industries and the largest hole in the ground is within the seat. Home to the business-orientated Cranfield University and the tourist attractions Woburn Abbey and Woburn Safari Park.

• Conservative majority in 2010: 15,152

• Labour would need a swing of 19% to win in 2015 and the Lib Dems would need a 14% swing

The Mid Bedfordshire constituency, which has undergone various boundary changes over the years, has been held by the Conservatives since 1931.

The current Tory MP Nadine Dorries was first elected in 2005. She had the Conservative whip withdrawn in 2012 for six months after she appeared on ITV's I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.

The bulk of the constituency is within the Central Bedfordshire unitary authority area with a few wards from Bedford Borough.

Central Bedfordshire was formed in 2009 from the merger of Mid Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire district councils. It has had a large Conservative majority since it was formed.

Candidates in 2015

• Nadine Dorries - Conservative

• Gareth Ellis - Green

• Tim Ireland - Independent

• Linda Jack - Liberal Democrats

• Ann Kelly - Official Monster Raving Loony

• Charlynne Pullen - Labour

• Nigel Wickens - UKIP