Formerly the seat of Sir Geoffrey Howe, this constituency covers the easternmost section of Surrey, bordering Kent, and includes the small towns of Caterham and Warlingham.
Peter Ainsworth has represented this seat since 1992, and in 1997 he retained it with a majority of over 15,000 votes. Despite a drop in his share of the vote by more than 10% this remains the third largest Conservative majority behind Huntingdon and Surrey Heath. Surrey is one of only two counties where every seat was Conservative at the last election.
For what is essentially a London commuter seat, Surrey East has a charmingly pastoral nature. Development has been limited to narrow valleys and established upland settlements by the North Downs, and much of the area is covered with wooded hillsides and rolling arable land.
Caterham is the largest town, lying close to the M25 which runs across the middle of the seat. The residents are typically white owner-occupying middle-class, and half of the workforce are either professionals or in management/technical employment.
Although the seat is undoubtedly pretty in parts, there are few noted tourist attractions save for a seventeenth-century windmill at Outwood and the racecourse at Lingfield.