Norfolk North

Boundary changes: Previously co-terminous with North Norfolk council, the new seat loses several wards in the south-west of the district to the new Broadland seat, most notably the town of Fakenham and the Catholic shrine of Walsingham.

Profile: A long, thin rural seat, stretching along the northern coast of Norfolk from Wells-next-the-Sea to the Norfolk broads and taking in much of the Norfolk Coast area of natural beauty. The area is made up of small villages and towns, Victorian beach resorts from a time before the Beeching cuts, fishing villages and market towns. Quiet, sleepy and remote – even the largest towns like Cromer have populations under 10,000 – and, like many coastal seats, it has one of the highest proportions of elderly people of any constituency in the UK.

North Norfolk had been a Labour seat in the 1950s and 1960s but the Labour rural vote has declined and Labour`s support has largely vanished. It was a very safe Conservative seat for Ralph Howell for 27 years until 1997. He was briefly replaced by David Prior, the son of former cabinet minster Jim Prior, who managed to hold on with only a 2.2% majority in 1992 before losing the seat to the Liberal Democrats in 2001 by a wafer thin majority of 483. The marginality of the seat and the high profile Conservative candidate – the blogger, commentator and Politicos bookshop founder Iain Dale – meant the seat received much attention in 2005, but in the end Norman Lamb easily retained his seat with a majority of over 10,000.

Current MP: Norman Lamb(Liberal Democrat) born 1957. Educated at Wymondham College and Leicester University. Employment lawyer. Norwich councillor 1987-1991. Contested Norfolkl North 1992, 1997. First elected as MP for Norfolk North in 2001. PPS to Charles Kennedy 2003-2005, Lib Dem shadow secretary for the DTU 2004-2006, briefly Chief of Staff to Menzies Campbell in 2006 before becoming Lib Dem shadow health secretary in 2006 (more information at They work for you)

2010 election candidates:
Trevor Ivory (Conservative) born 1978. Educated at St Andrews School, Crawley and the University of East Anglia. Solicitor, specialising in planning.
Phil Harris (Labour) Former Norwich councillor. Contested North Norfolk 2005.
Norman Lamb(Liberal Democrat) born 1957. Educated at Wymondham College and Leicester University. Employment lawyer. Norwich councillor 1987-1991. Contested Norfolkl North 1992, 1997. First elected as MP for Norfolk North in 2001. PPS to Charles Kennedy 2003-2005, Lib Dem shadow secretary for the DTU 2004-2006, briefly Chief of Staff to Menzies Campbell in 2006 before becoming Lib Dem shadow health secretary in 2006 (more information at They work for you)
Andrew Boswell (Green) Trained as a biochemist and worked in the IT industry. Practicising Buddhist. Norfolk County councillor since 2005.
Michael Baker (UKIP)
Simon Mann (Independent)