Romsey & Southampton North

This is a new seat, an extension of the existing but disappearing Romsey constituency.

It covers the attractive Hampshire town and the Tory-leaning Southampton suburb of Bassett. Experts have calculated that had this seat existed at the time of the 2005 general election, the Liberal Democrats would have won it by the narrowest of majorities - 200 votes - over the Conservatives.

So it can immediately be classed as a critical marginal which the Tories will hope to capture.

The Liberal Democrat candidate is Sandra Gidley, a pharmacist, who won the Romsey seat at a by-election in 2000 and has held it ever since.