Prime Minister makes flying visit to one of the most marginal seats in the country

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been visiting Norwich airport in a constituency the Conservatives held by just 507 votes at the 2017 election.

Mr Johnson has been at the Norwich International Aviation Academy which was built to train the next generation of aviation professionals.

The East of England is fertile ground for the Conservatives with the party winning 60 of the 69 constituencies in the Anglia region at the last election.

But the area also has some key marginal seats which could switch between Labour and the Conservatives or vice versa with just a few hundred voters changing their minds.

Labour came within 507 votes of beating the Conservatives in Norwich North at the last election.

  • Watch a report on Boris Johnson's visit to Norwich airport by ITV News Anglia's Rob Setchell

The Conservatives are defending six constituencies in the Anglia region where the party came within less than 2,000 votes of losing to Labour two years ago.

  • Thurrock - Conservative majority 345 - Labour would need at 0.3% swing to win

  • Norwich North - Conservative majority 507 - Labour need a 0.6% swing

  • Northampton North - Conservative majority 807 - Labour need a 1% swing

  • Milton Keynes South - Conservative majority 1,725 - Labour need a 1.3% swing

  • Northampton South - Conservative majority 1,159 - Labour need a 1.4% swing

  • Milton Keynes North - Conservative majority 1,975 - Labour need a 1.5% swing

  • In a series of interviews with party leaders, ITV News Anglia's Political Correspondent Emma Hutchinson spoke to Boris Johnson about the Conservative Party's prospects in the East of England

The other constituency in Norwich is Norwich South, which covers the city centre and is held by Labour with a sturdy majority of 15,596.

But there are some ultra marginal Labour seats in the Anglia region that the Conservatives are targeting.

Labour held Peterborough by just 607 votes in the 2017 election and only increased their majority slightly to 683 in the by-election there earlier in 2019.

The Conservatives could win Peterborough on a swing of 0.6% but in the by-election in June, the Brexit Party pushed the Conservatives into third place.

Labour also held Bedford by just 789 votes in 2017 and the Labour majority in Ipswich was only 836. Both would fall to the Conservatives on a swing of under 1%.

Boris Johnson was shown around the Norwich International Aviation Academy at the city's airport.

Norwich North was a Labour seat from 1997 until a by-election in 2009. Before then it had been held by the Conservatives since 1983.

Labour will be desperate to win it back at this election.If it fails to do so, it could mean the party is on track for a bad night at the polls - especially as it came so close to winning last time.

A total of five parties have candidates in Norwich North at this election:Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Green and the UK Independence Party.

It is one of only 44 constituencies in the UK where UKIP is standing.

The Prime Minister inspects a aircraft engine on a visit to the Norwich Aviation Academy.