Constituency profile: Shrewsbury & Atcham - Daniel standing tall in the bookies' odds
After squeaking to victory in 2005, Daniel Kawczynski significantly extended his majority in Shrewsbury in 2010.
Each day this week we'll be profiling the six constituences that make up the Shropshire Star region; Telford, Wrekin, Shrewsbury, Ludlow, North Shropshire and Montgomeryshire. Today we look at Shrewsbury & Atcham.
When he first landed the seat, Mr Kawczynski did so with a majority of 1,808 votes, but extended that to 7,944 last time out, with Labour's Jon Tandy pushed back into third place behind the Liberal Democrats.
Paul Marsden's victory in 1997 saw the seat turn red for the first time in history, but odds of 20/1 suggest that Dr Laura Davies, the qualified neurosurgeon who is standing for Labour this time out, will struggle to match that feat.
Results from 2010:
DANIEL KAWCZYNSKI (Con) 23,313
Charles West (Lib Dem) 15,369
Jon Tandy (Lab) 10,915
Peter Lewis (Ukip) 1,627
James Whittall (BNP) 1,168
Alan Whittaker (Green) 565
James Gollins (Impact) 88
Conservative majority 7,944
Turnout 70.3 per cent
Perhaps the most famous MP for Shrewsbury & Atcham is one whose statue still stands in the centre of the town today. Robert Clive Clive of India secured India for British rule in a series of military campaigns. He acquired great wealth and was dogged by accusations of corruption upon his return to to Britain. He was MP from 1761 until 1774, and made Baron Clive of Plassey in 1762. He committed suicide and is buried at Moreton Say near Market Drayton.
Benjamin Disraeli, one of the foremost figures of 19th century politics and one of the key figures in the creation of the modern Conservative Party, was another well-known former Shrewsbury MP. Still the only Jewish Prime Minister in history, he served the town between 1841 and 1847.
Paul Marsdens successive victories for Labour in Shrewsbury in 1997 and 2001 marked the first time in history that the party had taken the seat, and the first time since a Liberal victory in 1923 that it had been held by a party other than the Conservatives. He became the first MP since Winston Churchill to defect between parties twice, crossing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats, then going back again.
John Langford-Holt took up the seat in 1945, when he was 29, and didnt vacate it again until 1983, by which time he was 67-years-old. During his 38 years in the role, he never sought ministerial office.
The constituency includes villages such as Bayston Hill, Ford, Dorrington, Condover, Minsterley, Pontesbury, Bomere Heath, Wroxeter and Atcham, while its southern limit is the edge of the Shropshire Hills AONB.
There are almost 74,000 voters in Shrewsbury and Atcham, of whom around 70 per cent turned out at the last election.
Instead, Ukip are second favourites to win in Shrewsbury, with the party's deputy chairman Suzanne Evans standing against Mr Kawczynski with odds of 12/1 behind her.
The towering Tory – Mr Kawczynski is the country's tallest politician at 6ft 9ins – is looking at odds of 1/25 to retain his seat, according to Ladbrokes – suggesting that Shrewsbury is already a done deal for the party.
The Liberal Democrats will be represented by Christine Tinker, a former army officer who became self-employed as a freelance tennis coach to concentrate on a career in politics.
Emma Bullard will be contesting the seat on behalf of the Green Party.
If he does land the seat, expect more high-profile campaigning from Polish-born Mr Kawczynski, who was an international account manager in the telecommunications industry prior to his move into politics.
Shrewsbury's transport links have been a pivotal issue for Mr Kawczynski, and he campaigned vehemently for the introduction of the direct Shropshire to London rail service.
In the run-up to the election, he has also spoken about the need for the town's north west relief road, and proposed a unified authority covering Shropshire and Telford – a proposal which received short shrift at Telford & Wrekin Council.
Dr Davies, meanwhile, is focusing her energies on her own field of expertise – healthcare.
The eventual location of a unified accident and emergency centre for Shropshire has become a key issue in the county at this election, and she will be determined to show she can help ensure that Shrewsbury is its eventual destination.
One local issue which is guaranteed to attract heated debate is the future of the Quarry Leisure Centre.
The issue of the future of the swimming pool and fitness complex is a thorny one, and the candidates will be expected to show they have a strong idea for the future of leisure services in the county town.
Similarly, the launch of a new university in Shrewsbury will come with its own set of challenges, which will be tackled by the candidates.
The truth is that Shrewsbury & Atcham is a seat with a long-standing Conservative tradition.
Before Paul Marsden's surprise scoop of the seat in 1997, the Tories had enjoyed an unbroken run of success in the seat since 1923 – and even that was a short-term gain, with what was then the Liberal Party holding Shrewsbury, as the seat was then known, for only one term.
The Liberal Democrats had traditionally kept hold of second spot in the constituency before 1997, pushing Labour into third place.
Derek Conway, who preceded Mr Marsden as the local MP, took the seat on three separate occasions, with majorities ranging from 8,624 to 10,695.
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His predecessor Sir John Holt held a real stranglehold on the vote, winning an astonishing 11 consecutive elections to keep hold of the constituency for 38 years.
The Shrewsbury & Atcham constituency in its present form was created in 1983, since when its 70,000 voting inhabitants have generally achieved a turnout of around 65 to 70 per cent on polling day.
Meet the candidates:
Daniel Kawczynski was first returned as Shrewsbury & Atcham MP in 2005, when he won the seat back for the Conservative Party from Paul Marsden, who had won consecutive ballots for Labour.
Towering above his opponents at 6ft 9ins tall, the Warsaw-born politician had previously failed in a bid to win the Ealing Southall seat in 2001.
A former international account manager in the communications industry, he has courted people on different points of the political spectrum, speaking out in favour of fox hunting, and also in favour of free movement of people throughout Europe.
That's a message that will not sit kindly with one of his key challengers – the deputy chairman of Ukip, Suzanne Evans, who defected to the party from the Conservatives over the party's approach to Britain's relationship with the EU.
A former reporter on BBC Radio Shropshire, the Shrewsbury-born candidate entered politics as a councillor in London for the Tories, rising to the position of deputy leader of the Conservative Party on Merton Borough Council.
However, along with five other members, she ultimately defected to UKIP.
She became the party's deputy chairman after the European Parliamentary Elections last summer.
Dr Laura Davies will contest the seat on behalf of the Labour Party. Originally from Rugby, she was selected to contest the seat after the previous candidate, John Turnbull, stepped aside last year.
A doctor working in the NHS, a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, and a former Army medical officer, Davies intends to use her experience in the medical profession to make the NHS her key focus.
She says she wants to keep A&E services in Shrewsbury, and prevent downgrading of Shrewsbury Hospital. She will find comradeship among the Shrewsbury & Atcham candidates, as Liberal Democrat Christine Tinker is another former officer in the Armed Forces.
She has been part of the Liberals Democrats since 2005, but is standing for parliamentary election for the first time.
She did, however, stand in the Radbrook ward in the 2013 Shropshire Council elections, coming second to Keith Roberts.
She says her campaign will be centred on the principle of fairness. "I am passionate that everyone should have an equal chance," she said,
"And I really believe in the Liberal Democrats' commitment to equality and fairness."
Emma Bullard, who moved to Shrewsbury 15 years ago, will contest the seat on behalf of the Green Party. She has experience of contesting local elections, having contested seats on behalf of the Greens in Bristol and Salisbury.
She has worked for Shropshire Council for 10 years in the sustainable transport team, mainly on cycling projects in Shrewsbury.
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