Where is Broxtowe?

The Sky News election map is brilliant. (And no, I'm not just saying that because they're employing me on election night.)

http://constituency.sky.com/page/broxtowe

As you can see, Broxtowe is just west of Nottingham. In a sense it's a seat typical of many in the East Midlands - a region full of marginal constituencies. Its seats such as Broxtowe which could determine which party is able (or not) to form a government on May 7th.

According to Sky: Broxtowe is largely suburban and middle class. There aren't many extremes of rich or poor in the seat although there are some traditional working class Labour areas in the main town of Beeston. Boots and Siemens are major employers although most people commute outside the seat into Nottingham. There are some smaller villages in the north of the seat that are home to wealthier Tory voters.

Welcome to Broxtowe

Welcome to Broxtowe. One of hundreds of seats which Labour gained from the Conservatives in 1997, now held with a diminishing majority. Its target number 42 for the Tories, so Thursday 6th May is set to be an exciting night for the seat, which is just west of Nottingham.

I'm a broadcast journalism student at Nottingham Trent University, and am just about to graduate. I've been given the fantastic opportunity to cover the Broxtowe constituency for Sky News on election night. It's my job to find out the result as soon as I can, get all the important information back to Sky HQ, so that Sky can get the vital statistics out on air.

I hope you find the blog interesting and insightful. The majority of the blog posts will come on the night of the 6th May, but there'll be some personal reflections beforehand.

Here's a list of all the candidates standing in Broxtowe:

Chris Cobb (UKIP)
David Mitchell (Greens)
Nick Palmer (Labour)
Mike Shore (BNP)
Anna Soubry (Conservatives)
David Watts (Liberal Democrats)

Please find me on twitter as well: @BroxtoweResults