At the last election this was a safe parliamentary seat for the Conservatives - the safest in Norfolk - but it was not always like this. Although it has been held by the party since 1950, its majority shrunk as low as 119 in the Labour landslide year of 1966. The Lib Dems have controlled the local authority for the last 6 years, and they currently hold 26 of the 44 council seats which lie within this constituency.
This is geographically a very large constituency, consisting of small towns and villages including Wymondham, Diss, Harleston and Loddon. They are invariably full of listed buildings, nature reserves and many of them still have weekly markets. These towns provide attractive residential accommodation for Norwich commuters and there have been many private residential developments over the last 30 years causing an increase in the population.
Other than agriculture and tourism, the most notable source of local employment is car manufacturing. Lotus have their headquarters and factory at Hethel, 11 miles south of Norwich, and specialist sports car manufacturer Triking and Racing Technology Norfolk Ltd, who make Audi touring cars, are also based here.
The sitting MP, former cabinet minister John MacGregor, is standing down at this election.