Lichfield
Conservative hold

If Labour's overall majority reaches 200 next time, we may have seen the last of the colourful Tory MP for Lichfield in mid-Staffordshire, Michael Fabricant, who only held on against the mighty surge by 238 votes in 1997. However, in any other circumstances, even the fact that Lichfield's cathedral is named after St Chad is unlikely, in the aftermath of the re-re-counted Florida elections in the USA, to prove a harbinger of another super-close result. In any case, any competitive result is unlikely to include the Liberal Democrat candidate, who is reported to be scheduled to be out of the country on business on election day.

Michael Fabricant, elected in 1992 for an earlier version of this seat, is the son of a Brighton rabbi. He was born in 1950 and educated at Brighton & Hove Grammar School and at four universities, including Sussex and Southern California. A fluent, red-faced, oleaginous former electronics engineer who was once (according to Simon Hoggart) “well-known as a disk jockey in several parts of Hove”, he is famous essentially for his syrup-like “barnet”. An orthodox Eurosceptic, but with a light-weight persona as a self-parodying Commons performer, he is among the Tory minority who vote for homosexual sex at 16. The Labour challenger this time is a new parliamentary candidate, Martin Machray, a PR man who was a nurse. Educated at Greencroft Secondary School, the Open University and Aston University, he sits on Lichfield Council for the Fazeley ward.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 28.02% 14.99% 186.87 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.57% 2.13% 26.69 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 1.44% 2.49% 57.92 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 11.30% 4.43% 255.38 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 17.29% 7.27% 237.68 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.96% 2.56% 37.51 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.26% 2.04% 12.73 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.00% 3.94% 0.00 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 12.64% 13.04% 96.95 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 8.81% 12.70% 69.38 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 10.17% 8.14% 124.92 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 0.02% 4.02% 0.61 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 1.79% 3.19% 56.17 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 6.21% 11.31% 54.88 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.09% 3.06% 2.80 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 0.26% 2.52% 10.17 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.17% 0.06% 277.19

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 6.92% 9.41% 73.47 £5-10K 13.62% 16.63% 81.88 £10-15K 15.17% 16.58% 91.48 £15-20K 13.58% 13.58% 99.94 £20-25K 11.09% 10.39% 106.73 £25-30K 8.70% 7.77% 111.93 £30-35K 6.71% 5.79% 115.79 £35-40K 5.14% 4.33% 118.58 £40-45K 3.94% 3.27% 120.54 £45-50K 3.02% 2.48% 121.87 £50-55K 2.34% 1.90% 122.71 £55-60K 1.82% 1.47% 123.19 £60-65K 1.42% 1.15% 123.39 £65-70K 1.12% 0.91% 123.39 £70-75K 0.89% 0.72% 123.23 £75-80K 0.71% 0.57% 122.95 £80-85K 0.57% 0.46% 122.59 £85-90K 0.46% 0.37% 122.16 £90-95K 0.37% 0.31% 121.68 £95-100K 0.30% 0.25% 121.16 £100K + 1.57% 1.34% 117.06