AS far as constituencies go, Romsey and Southampton North is a fledgling, having being created by the Boundary Commission in 2010.

Previously it was known simply as Romsey but the name Southampton North was added to reflect that the constituency now includes northern parts of the city.

The seat – which had traditionally been a Tory stronghold until the tragic death of the Conservative MP Michael Colvin in a blaze which destroyed his Hampshire home in February 2000 – fell to the Liberal Democrats in a shock May by-election result that year.

Lib Dem Sandra Gidley snatched the seat from the Conservatives and went on to win a further election for her party.

However in 2010 the Conservatives recaptured the seat from the Lib Dems through Caroline Nokes, who romped home to victory with a 4,156 majority, bringing Mrs Gidley’s ten-year reign at Westminster to an end.

Ms Nokes, who lives at West Wellow and is the daughter of Hampshire County Council leader Cllr Roy Perry, is hoping to retain the seat at next month’s general election.

She was a borough councillor for 12 years prior to becoming an MP.

Her challengers include the Lib Dem candidate Ben Nicholls, who would like to retake the seat for his party.

Stoke-on-Trent-born Ben, 27, moved to Southampton when he was 12 and is the founder and chairman of the youth theatre charity RicNic.

Darren Paffey, who is fighting the seat for Labour, also lives in Southampton and is married with two children.

He is a Labour councillor on Southampton City Council and is a lecturer in Spanish and linguistics at the University of Southampton.

He knows that his party must win as many parliamentary constituencies in Hampshire as possible if Labour is to form the next Government.

Ian Callaghan is the Green Party’s candidate and he is married with children and lives at Sherfield English, near Romsey.

Ian has lived in the constituency for 12 years and is a churchwarden in the Wellow and Sherfield English Benefice.

UKIP’s candidate is Sandra James, who is a county councillor in West Sussex.

One of the constituency’s main concerns is plans to build thousands of homes around Romsey on greenfield sites at Whitenap and North Baddesley and Rownhams.

Protesters are trying to stop developers building on agricultural land not earmarked for new homes in Test Valley’s revised draft Local Plan, which has yet to be approved by a Government inspector.

Like elsewhere in the UK, there are local concerns about the long-term future of the NHS and the lack of public transport in rural areas.

The constituency came through the recession largely unscathed, with very few job losses reported, and a number of new small businesses have emerged during the past year or so.

However, even this constituency has seen big increases in the number of people turning to charities for help.

This includes food banks because people can’t afford to put food on the table, and the Citizens Advice Service for assistance following changes to the welfare system, which has them left them to struggle with reductions to their benefits.

Daily Echo:

  • ROMSEY and Southampton North constituency covers a large area stretching from rural villages on the southern environs of Andover in the north, to the Southampton suburbs of Bassett and Swaythling in the south.

In the west it is bordered by the Wiltshire boundary and its eastward extent includes the picture postcard villages of Longparish, Barton Stacey and Chilbolton in the north-east and the modern parish of Valley Park on the edge of Chandler’s Ford in the south-east.

Its main hubs of activity evolved around the market town of Romsey and the ancient borough of Stockbridge, renowned for flyfishing on the River Test.

The constituency is also home to hi-tech firms based at Southampton Science Park in Chilworth, and Chilbolton Observatory, near Stockbridge, plays a leading role in meteorological research and forecasting. It has one of the world’s most advanced meteorological radar experimental facilities, and is home to the world’s largest fully steerable meteorological radar.

General election result 2010

Conservative Caroline Nokes, 24,345 votes, +6.6 per cent.

Liberal Democrat Sandra Gidley, 20,189 votes, -2.4 per cent.

Labour Aktar Beg, 3,116 votes, -4.6 per cent.

UKIP John Meropoulos, 1,289 votes, +0.3 per cent.