THERE is all to play for in the new-look West Devon and Torridge at the general election on May 6.

A chunk of the old seat has been sliced off due to boundary changes and placed in the new Central Devon constituency. The redrawn area stretches from north to south — taken from it are Okehampton and nearby villages, which are now in Central Devon.

At the 2005 general election, under the former boundaries, West Devon and Torridge was won by Geoffrey Cox for the Conservatives with a majority of 3,236.

Mr Cox lives in Lamerton with his wife, Jeanie, and their three children.

He is the son of a soldier — his father was schooled in Tavistock. His brother is a local solicitor. Mr Cox is president of Tavistock Football Club, governor of a local school and trustee of a Tavistock mental health charity. He is also vice-president of the North Devon Hospice.

He said: 'With a new Conservative Government, Devon would benefit from greater influence with a party of government that cares about the interests of its people.

'It is time for change by getting a grip on the nation's finances more quickly so mortgage rates stay low, supporting our armed forces, changing Whitehall's approach, empowering rural communities and market towns and delivering a fairer deal for Devon's schoolchildren and the elderly in care.'

He also supports freezing council tax and raising the basic pension, keeping existing benefits; protecting the local NHS, cutting managerial targets, and making it work for patients; action for farming for fairer competition, and reform of the Rural Payments Agency.

Liberal Democrat Adam Symons was born near Clovelly, the son of a farmer.

A graduate of Magdalen College, Oxford, Mr Symons has worked in the environmental field since 1997, in industry, consultancy and then in local authority. He was head of waste management at Oxfordshire County Council, before, in 2005, he became a freelance environmental specialist.

A keen sportsman, Mr Symons still lives on the farm near Clovelly with his wife, Jo, and is a district councillor for Hartland and Bradworthy.

He said he was keen to support Tavistock College as it worked to get out of special measures and would campaign to obtain fairer funding for Devon schoolchildren.

Mr Symons would fight against the overdevelopment of Tavistock and look for investment in the rail link between Exeter and Tavistock via Okehampton.

He supports a fairer tax system, better links between pensions and wages and promotion of a partnership approach to caring for elderly relatives.

Labour's Darren Jones is originally from Bristol. He graduated from the University of Plymouth in 2008 with a BSc degree in the human biosciences.

Mr Jones founded the first Plymouth Labour Students organisation in 2006 and has served as its president.

He has worked as a constituency intern for Plymouth Sutton MP, Linda Gilroy, and stood in the local elections in Plymouth in 2008.

A member of the Co-operative Party and member of its youth national executive committee, he is currently training as a corporate lawyer.

Mr Jones said he would provide a real alternative to the people of West Devon and Torridge and would strive to connect with its young people, hard working families and the 20, 000-plus people who felt so unmotivated as to not vote in the last election.

Robin Julian, 55, is the UKIP candidate. Married to Debbie for 31 years and a father of four, he is a former soldier and special constable.

He moved to Hartland, eight years ago and runs an organic farm as well as a family landscape gardening business.

Mr Julian said he was passionate about saving communities by keeping pubs, post offices garages and community hospitals open: 'I would like to see more emphasis on relying on local produce and for more people to be encouraged into the farming industry.

'I would like to see biofarms instead of wind turbines built across the area, based on the German model. We also need to tap into our many water ways and bring back water mills to produce energy.'

Cathrine Simmons has been a Green Party member for more than 20 years and works as a local authority housing officer. Married with children she is a former district councillor and currently a town councillor for Great Torrington.

She said: I feel very strongly that people should have a local voice and I worry about the disengagement from politics as we do not hear from the silent majority on many occasions.

'I am also concerned about the local economy and I think that Green jobs can be created locally to benefit local people.'

Dairy supervisor Nick Baker, 41, is one of six BNP candidates contesting seats in Devon. He opposes involvement in the war in Afghanistan, and wants withdrawal from the European Union and an end to immigration.

'I am also concerned at the decline of our rural well-being and quality of life, as we lose our local services, post offices, pubs and shops.'

The count for the poll on Thursday May 6 will be carried out by Torridge District Council.