Constituency: Workington (including Cockermouth, Maryport and Aspatria)

Population: 78,371

Electorate: 63,112

Breakdown: The constituency has the highest percentage of white residents in England and Wales, according to the 2011 Census - 99 per cent. Unemployment is below average although many workers are part time.

Key industries/employers: The main industries used to be coal and steelworks but with their decline, new businesses have sprung up in footwear, plastics, cardboard and electronics. Sellafield (in Copeland) is a major employer, as is the tourism-related service industry.

Issues likely to be key to voters' decision: The future of the nuclear industry, the terms of Brexit, the NHS.

Sitting candidate: Sue Hayman (Lab).
Hayman became Workington’s first female MP when she won the seat in 2015, following the decision by long-standing incumbent Tony Cunningham to step down.

Other candidates:
Clark Vasey (Con); George Kemp (UKIP); Phill Roberts (Lib Dem); Roy Ivinson (Ind)

2015 figures:
Labour (16,282, 42.3%), Conservative (11,596, 30.1%), UKIP (7,538, 19.6%), Lib Dem (1,708, 4.4%), Greens (1,149, 3%). Turnout 65.6%

Conservatives target seat: No 56 (swing required 6.09%)

Previous holders of the seat for the last four general elections:

  • 2001: Tony Cunningham (Lab), majority 10,850
  • 2005: Tony Cunningham (Lab), majority 7,895
  • 2010: Tony Cunningham (Lab), majority 4,575
  • 2015: Sue Hayman (Lab), majority 4,686

How constituency voted in Brexit referendum:

  • Remain: 22,429
  • Leave: 31,809

Analysis:
With a comparatively healthy majority to defend, Sue Hayman should feel confident of retaining her seat in the General Election.
However, as a high-profile member of Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, she will be all too aware that voters in this Labour heartland will be delivering a verdict on the party’s current direction when they go to the ballot box on June 8.
And if events in Copeland earlier this year are an indication of the shifting political sands in west Cumbria, then Hayman will have a real dogfight on her hands.
The future of the nuclear industry will be a major issue in Workington, with a high percentage of the workforce employed either directly or indirectly at Sellafield. If the voters prove as nervous about Corbyn’s lukewarm stance on nuclear power as they did in Copeland, then a majority of 4,600 no longer looks as secure as it might.
While the seat is hardly marginal, Tory strategists believe a combination of hostility to Corbyn, a strong and engaged Leave vote, and a large swing from UKIP could tilt constituencies like Workington their way. The unpredictable “Lib Dem Effect” could also see traditional Labour support draining away.
In the face of these challenges, Hayman will hope that her profile as a campaigning constituency MP will boost her chances – and that some of Corbyn’s headline policies will strike a chord with voters.
She has spoken out vociferously against government plans to improve healthcare in Cumbria, especially proposals to downgrade maternity services at West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.
Her attempts to deliver a 30,000-strong petition to Downing Street made the news earlier this year, and the NHS is likely to remain central to her campaign over the next few weeks.