BBC Profile:
Stephen Dorrell held the seat for the Conservatives until 1997, but after boundary changes before the 1997 general election, Labour's Andy Reed was elected with a 5,712-vote majority. His majority at the 2005 election was 1,996 votes.

At the election, boundary changes are slight but add part of Quorn and Mountsorrel Castle ward. To find out what might have happened had this boundary change been in force at the last election, see a notional - or estimated - result below.

Loughborough is a large town in north Leicestershire, between Leicester and Nottingham. The seat includes the town and its university, as well as the surrounding small rural towns.

The local economy is dominated by education, pharmaceuticals, research and engineering, although a local research centre is to be closed by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca. The area is quite typical of the East Midlands with a skilled and educated working population, but it has suffered a decline in the manufacturing industry common to the area during the 1980s and 1990s.

Investment has been attracted to Loughborough in recent years, notably from oil and gas firm GL Noble Denton.

Many local firms have also continued to grow and prosper.

Loughborough has also become a key student town, thanks to the rapid growth of the university. Of the voting population of 70,000 up to 15,000 are connected with Loughborough University in some way. The university is home to a dedicated science park and is famous as a

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BBC Profile:
Stephen Dorrell held the seat for the Conservatives until 1997, but after boundary changes before the 1997 general election, Labour's Andy Reed was elected with a 5,712-vote majority. His majority at the 2005 election was 1,996 votes.

At the election, boundary changes are slight but add part of Quorn and Mountsorrel Castle ward. To find out what might have happened had this boundary change been in force at the last election, see a notional - or estimated - result below.

Loughborough is a large town in north Leicestershire, between Leicester and Nottingham. The seat includes the town and its university, as well as the surrounding small rural towns.

The local economy is dominated by education, pharmaceuticals, research and engineering, although a local research centre is to be closed by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca. The area is quite typical of the East Midlands with a skilled and educated working population, but it has suffered a decline in the manufacturing industry common to the area during the 1980s and 1990s.

Investment has been attracted to Loughborough in recent years, notably from oil and gas firm GL Noble Denton.

Many local firms have also continued to grow and prosper.

Loughborough has also become a key student town, thanks to the rapid growth of the university. Of the voting population of 70,000 up to 15,000 are connected with Loughborough University in some way. The university is home to a dedicated science park and is famous as a sporting university.

Rallings & Thrasher Notional:
Lab 19,261 (41.19%)
C 17,445 (37.31%)
LD 8,354 (17.87%)
UKIP 1,112 (2.38%)
Others 588 (1.26%)

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