When Alan Beith took this seat in a 1973 by-election - after the sitting Conservative MP was caught up in a call girl scandal - few would have predicted he would still be the MP here almost 30 years later.
This highly rural seat, wedged between the rugged Northumbrian coastline and the England/Scotland border, has the appearance of a traditional Conservative stronghold, but in fact has something of a Liberal tradition. Sir Edward Grey, foreign secretary at the start of World War One, was the member here from 1885 to 1916.
Most voters live on or near the coast, from the town of Berwick on the mouth of the Tweed down to Alnwick and Amble in the south of the constituency. Predominantly agricultural with fishing and tourist industries, new businesses established in the constituency tend to manufacture exclusive products such as fishing rods.
Despite the needs of an area still coming to terms with the loss of coal mining, one energy industry has not been welcomed here. Plans for a proposed nuclear power station at Druridge have been dropped following vigorous protests from local people, all too aware of the problems created by the Sellafield nuclear plant in the Cumbrian seat of Copeland.
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