Battleground Anglia: South Norfolk

The Conservatives won the South Norfolk constituency at the 2010 General Election with a majority of nearly 11,000 votes. Credit: ITV News Anglia

The Conservatives won the South Norfolk constituency at the 2010 General Election with a majority of nearly 11,000 votes.

South Norfolk stretches from the southern edge of Norwich to the Suffolk boundary and takes in numerous commuter-laden rural villages.

Its biggest town is Diss right on the Suffolk border. There are small market towns in Loddon and Harleston with a number of large commuter villages in Hethersett, Mulbarton, Long Stratton and Poringland.

The size of the electorate in South Norfolk is the biggest in Norfolk.

  • Conservative majority in 2010: 10,940

  • South Norfolk is the 32nd most marginal of the 69 seats in the Anglia region

  • The Liberal Democrats would need a swing of 10% to win in 2015 and Labour would need a 18% swing

South Norfolk has returned a Conservative member of Parliament at every general election since 1950. The area used to be fertile ground for the Liberal Democrats and the party ran the local council from 1995 until 2007.

John MacGregor, the former Conservative cabinet minister, held the seat for 27 years from 1974. In 1954, a former MP for the seat Peter Baker, was the last MP to be expelled from the House of Commons, having been convicted of fraud and forgery.

Candidates in 2015

  • Richard Bacon - Conservative

  • Barry Cameron - UKIP

  • Jacky Howe - Liberal Democrats

  • Catherine Rowett - Green

  • Deborah Sacks - Labour