Battleground Anglia: South East Cambridgeshire

The constituency of Cambridgeshire South East is large and sparsely populated. It is a mixture of suburban and rural areas.

The seat runs from east of Cambridge to east of Newmarket, though excludes the horse racing town itself, which a large kink in the Suffolk border punches through to seize. The ancient fen capital, Ely, is at its northern border.

Many of the smaller towns in the west of the constituency, such as Milton, Fulbourn and Histon, are populated largely by commuters working in Cambridge.

Agriculture is a key economic activity of the constituency, which is largely arable. The constituency is one of the most important horse racing areas in England, as it is home to Newmarket racecourse and stud farms at the eastern extreme of the constituency are major employers.

• Conservative majority in 2010: 5,946

• South East Cambs is target number 4 for the Liberal Democrats in the Anglia region

• The Lib Dems would need a swing of 5% to win in 2015 and Labour would need a 20% swing

The last time this part of Cambridgeshire had a Labour MP was between 1945 and 1950 when Albert Stubbs won the seat. He served on Cambridgeshire County Council more the 30 years.

South East Cambridgeshire and its predecessor constituencies has been in the hands of Conservative MPs since 1950. The latest, Sir Jim Paice, is retiring at this election after 28 years in Parliament. He served as a Farming Minister in the coalition and was also a minister in the last Conservative government under then fellow Cambridgeshire MP John Major.

Candidates in 2015

• Jonathan Chatfield - Liberal Democrats

• Lucy Fraser - Conservative

• Huw Jones - Labour

• Deborah Rennie - UKIP

• Clive Semmens - Green