Eastleigh

Eastleigh was a fairly safe seat for the Conservatives for nearly 40 years until the accidental death of its then MP, former journalist Stephen Milligan, in 1994.

At the subsequent by-election, the Liberal Democrats gained the seat on a very large swing, and have since held it in the three following elections, though with somewhat narrow majorities. This seat of suburbs includes the airport and rail works outside Southampton.

The Tories will be fighting hard to regain this seat which, at the last election, the Liberal Democrat Chris Huhne held with a majority of only 568 over the Tories.

Mr Huhne, who speaks in the Commons on home affairs, has twice challenged for the party leadership, even though he entered Parliament only at the last election.