The Ochil and South Perthshire constituency is a largely rural seat, split in half by the Ochil hills.
Taking in the whole of the Clackmannashire Council area and part of Perth and Kinross Council area, the main population centres are Kinross, Clackmannan, Alloa, Dollar, Alva, Tillicoultry, Crieff and Auchterarder.
The north of the constituency is fairly rural while the south is more industrialised, particularly Clackmannanshire.
The make up of the constituency is quite diverse with traditional working communities on one hand contrasting with commuter towns such as Kinross and Dollar.
Tourism is a major source of jobs, especially in the Perthshire part of the constituency which includes important employers in the sector such as Gleneagles Hotel and Crieff Hydro,
Rural issues and their impact on the farming community are an important consideration for whoever wins the seat.
The Ochil and South Perthshire constituency was created in 2005 and at the last election was held by Labour’s Gordon Banks with a 10.3% majority of 5,187 after he polled 19,131 which was 37.9% of the votes cast.
The Scottish National Party attracted 13,944 votes (27.6%), Conservative: 10,342 (20.5%), Lib Dem 5,754 (11.4%), Greens 609 (1.2%), UKIP 689 (1.4%).
The SNP see the seat as an achievable target and their candidate, Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, has been busy campaigning across the area, backed with high profile visits by Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.
As has been a feature at constituencies across Scotland, tactical voting is expected to play a part in the outcome of the election.
The candidates
* Luke Graham is to contest the Ochil and South Perthshire constituency for the Conservatives.
An accountant, Mr Graham recently moved to the area following the referendum, where he worked as part of the Better Together campaign.
Mr Graham says that voters in Ochil and South Perthshire constituency face a “choice between voting Labour and supporting a Labour-SNP coalition at Westminster or a Conservative MP focused on securing the opportunities and benefits of economic recovery for local constituents.”
He recently launched a free community jobs website today as part of his election pledge to tackle local unemployment and improve connectivity across the constituency.
* Iliyan Stefanov is fighting the seat for the Liberal Democrats.
The father of three originally hails from Bulgaria where he served as a councillor. He holds degrees in business and in economics and had taught economics for ten years at a number of universities abroad.
He later made a career change by moving into student support and has particular interest in suicide prevention, mental health and in developing a proactive model of student support.
Mr Stefanov joined the Scottish Liberal Democrats on his 50th birthday back in 2011 and believes that based on his experience and if elected as the MP for Ochil and South Perthshire, he can make a strong and positive contribution to the country’s politics.
* Labour candidate Gordon Banks has represented Ochil and South Perthshire for the last decade.
Mr Banks said he hoped he would be judged on his “proven track visit”.
“Around 22,000 enquiries have been dealt with by my office and over 95% of those surveyed said they were satisfied with the service provided,” said Mr Banks.
Mr Banks said his priorities include 1,000 more nurses for Scotland, a freeze on energy prices, reintroduction of the Bankers Bonus Tax, double paternity leave and a ban on zero-hour contracts
* SNP candidate Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh is a leading Scottish businesswoman, lawyer, screen actress and mother-of-four. She is National Women’s and Equalities Officer for the SNP and stood for the party in last year’s European Parliament elections.
She was on the board of Yes Scotland in the run-up to the referendum and is now a regular newspaper columnist. Her particular political interests include addressing welfare and poverty, business growth, equality issues and rural affairs.
*UK Independence Party candidate Martin Gray. No further information.