Romsey and Southampton North: Just one week to go until Election

On December 12, thousands will be heading to the polls in the Romsey and Southampton North constituency, in which the result is expected to be closer than usual.

Conservatives have held the seat since Caroline Nokes won it in 2010, taking it from the Liberal Democrats MP Sandra Gidley, who had held the seat for 10 years.

The Tory, who is daughter to former leader of Hampshire County Council Roy Perry, used her expertise in local government to storm onto the scene.

The seat was created in 2010, after taking over from the Romsey constituency.

The Lib Dems held the seat in the 2005 and 2001 General Elections, as well as the 2000 by-election.

The 2017 election saw Nokes winning it with a majority of more than 18,000 votes.

It is expected to be a lot closer this year, with opposition from Lib Dems looking to close the gap.

Liberal Democrat candidate, Craig Fletcher, is a businessman-turned politician and wants to regain his party's stance on the seat and says he wants to bring his years of experience in problem solving to Romsey and Southampton North.

Public services are high on labour candidate, Claire Ransom's agenda as she says she has seen significant cuts and decimation to public services.

The Mountbatten School pupil and trade union activist wants to make a change to improve public services and believes she is very true to Labour's roots.

This election will also be seen as the Brexit election, with every voter choosing their votes about when and how the country is going to get Brexit done.

UKIP candidate, Geoff Bentley, is a database specialist, turned tree surgeon and is standing for Romsey and Southampton North to give leavers a real choice and to get Brexit done.

The NHS has been a talking point for the candidates as Ms Ransom said the NHS hospital services have experienced “chronic underfunding” and are now at a “crisis point".

Conservative's Caroline Nokes said: "I would see as a priority for local health provision is more GP appointments.

"I think that’s crucially important we’re putting the 33.9 billion funding into the NHS."

Mr Fletcher, of the Liberal Democrats said: "We’ve had some of the worst A&E [Urgent Care] times since records began recently in Southampton General so we’ve really got to invest heavily in the in the people doing it."

Mr Bentley critisised Labour and the Tories and said: "The Private Finance Initiative introduced by the Tories and expanded by Labour is draining much-needed funds out of our NHS.

"PFI contracts financed £11.8bn to build hospitals in England but will cost 71 billion to pay back over 31 years - UKIP will terminate these contracts by act of Parliament where possible."

Brexit and climate change were also key issues which were raised at a recent hustings event.

All four candidates also agreed progress needs to be made to combat climate change.

Mr Bentley stressed UKIP would “leave the European Union with a clean break Brexit”, while Ms Nokes said “it is crucially important we get behind the deal that is on the table now".

A total of 68,297 people have registered to vote in the Romsey and Southampton North constituency.

There will be a total of 59 polling stations across the area where residents can submit their vote.

The Daily Echo looked at the previous results from the Romsey and Southampton North seat.

A large turnout is expected for this seat, like always.

There was a 74.6% turnout in 2017 election, which was up from the 2015 General Election at 72.76%.

Who is standing?

Some residents may already know who they will be voting for when they head to the polls in one week, but others may be unsure.

The candidates who are standing for Romsey and Southampton North are:

• Caroline Nokes, Conservatives

• Claire Ransom, Labour

• Craig Fletcher, Liberal Democrats

• Geoff Bentley, UK Independence Party

In the 2017 election, Romsey and Southampton North was won by Caroline Nokes, who has held the seat since 2010.

She won the seat with a 57.2% share, beating Liberal Democrat Catherine Royce by 18,000 votes.

Here are the results from the 2017 general election:

• Caroline Nokes, Conservative 28,668 - Elected

• Catherine Royce, Liberal Democrat 10,622

• Darren Paffey, Labour 9,614

• Ian Callaghan, Green 953

• Other 271

This meant a 50,128 turnout for the 2017 General Election.

After weeks of door knocking, hustings and leaflets being handed out to residents, candidates have just one week until they find out who will be representing Romsey and Southampton North in Parliament.

The vote will be counted at The Mountbatten School in Romsey, which will begin around 10pm on December 12 and will finish in the early hours of December 13.

The constituency previously voted remain, with 53.92% of the vote.

Meaning 46.08% of Romsey and Southamtpon North residents voted to leave the European Union.

Brexit is on everyone’’s minds this Christmas election, with other issues such as the environment, the NHS, schools and housing also on the priority list for this constituency.

A recent MRP poll from YouGov predicts a 51.21% majority win for the Tories, and Lib Dems coming second with 35.27%.