BBC Profile:
A Conservative seat for nearly 50 years, in 1997 Stroud was taken by Labour's David Drew. The Conservative incumbent, Roger Knapman, subsequently defected to UKIP. David Drew held on to the seat in 2001, with his lead over the Conservatives increasing to 5,039, but in 2005 his majority was cut to 350.

Boundary changes for this election will move Minchinhampton and part-ward Wotton-under-Edge to the Cotswolds. 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.

Much of the constituency is truly rural in character. It is only through the sparsely populated belt across the middle of the constituency that one will see a scattered handful of urbanised villages including Caincross, Cam, and Rodborough. The major market towns include Stroud itself, Dursley in the south of the constituency, and the smaller towns of Berkeley, Stonehouse and Nailsworth.

In the past the primary industry in the Stroud area was the wool trade. There are a large number of small to medium-sized manufacturing and engineering firms, including Lister Petters, Delphi and Renishaws, as the constituency's location on the M5 and proximity to the M4 make it an ideal location for such industrial activity.

Dairy farming is a major occupation in the constituency with a large dairy processing plant in Stonehouse, where milk for products such as Yoplait and Frijj are prepared.

Unemployment in the cons

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BBC Profile:
A Conservative seat for nearly 50 years, in 1997 Stroud was taken by Labour's David Drew. The Conservative incumbent, Roger Knapman, subsequently defected to UKIP. David Drew held on to the seat in 2001, with his lead over the Conservatives increasing to 5,039, but in 2005 his majority was cut to 350.

Boundary changes for this election will move Minchinhampton and part-ward Wotton-under-Edge to the Cotswolds. 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.

Much of the constituency is truly rural in character. It is only through the sparsely populated belt across the middle of the constituency that one will see a scattered handful of urbanised villages including Caincross, Cam, and Rodborough. The major market towns include Stroud itself, Dursley in the south of the constituency, and the smaller towns of Berkeley, Stonehouse and Nailsworth.

In the past the primary industry in the Stroud area was the wool trade. There are a large number of small to medium-sized manufacturing and engineering firms, including Lister Petters, Delphi and Renishaws, as the constituency's location on the M5 and proximity to the M4 make it an ideal location for such industrial activity.

Dairy farming is a major occupation in the constituency with a large dairy processing plant in Stonehouse, where milk for products such as Yoplait and Frijj are prepared.

Unemployment in the constituency is low, despite worries over redundancies in certain parts of its manufacturing base.

Rallings & Thrasher Notional:
Lab 21,592 (40.15%)
C 20,596 (38.30%)
LD 7,499 (13.95%)
Green 3,056 (5.68%)
UKIP 1,032 (1.92%)

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