General Election 2017: The Conservative Christian candidates who could, in spite of everything, lose their seats

From the way the Conservative party have begun this campaign it would seem their major worry is that people will take their victory for granted and not bother voting.

The main tactic looks set to stoke up fear a Jeremy Corbyn premiership could happen.

'There is a real risk of Jeremy Corbyn – with the support of the SNP and Lib Dems – becoming Prime Minister," is the message coming out of Conservative party headquarters.

But for some of their Christian MPs, the fear is more real than imagined.

In the south-west of the UK, the heartland of 'soft-Tories' who like the EU,Conservative MPs face a resurgentLiberal Democrat party.

Here are seven Tory MPs who could lose their seats at the General Election on June 8.

Caroline Ansell – Eastbourne – Majority of 733

Caroline Ansell was a school teacher before she became an MP in 2015Caroline Ansell

In 2015 new MP Caroline Ansell narrowly snatched the south-coast seat away from the Liberal Democrat Stephen Lloyd.

The popular former MP is mounting a campaign to be re-elected and a majority of less than a 1,000 is perilously small for Ansell, who has made a strong impact in her two years in the House of Commons.

A strong Christian, Ansell has spoken on the importance of the government's family test as well as campaigning against assisted suicide.

Her saving grace in Eastbourne may be her decision to vote Leave in the EU referendum. Her constituents largely followed with 57 per cent backing Brexit. If this number turn out for her on June 9, she should have enough to keep her seat against the Lib Dem, who have pitched themselves as fundamentally opposed to Brexit.

Maria Caulfield – Lewes – Majority of 1,083

Maria Caulfield led the opposition to an attempt to decriminalise abortionTwitter / Maria Caulfield

A neighbour of Ansell, Maria Caulfield is in a similar predicament.

Thanks to an unprecedented collapse of the Liberal Democrats in 2015, Caulfield narrowlytook the seat of Lewes from the entrenched Norman Baker who had held it since 1997.

Although Baker is not standing again, the Lib Dems will be eyeing a return to Lewes with candidate Kelly-Marie Blundell preparing a strong challenge.

Caulfield will be particularly anxious given her decision to back Brexit in the EU referendum, against the feelings of her constituents, 53 per cent of whom voted to Remain.

The outspoken Christian, who led the campaign against attempts to decriminalise abortion, may well pay the price this time around.

Derek Thomas – St Ives – Majority of 2,469

Derek Thomas won his seat from the Lib Dems in 2015The Conservative Party

Down the coast in Cornwall, Derek Thomas will be hoping his decision to back Brexit, will save him for the Lib Dems.

He took his seat from Andrew George in 2015 and the Lib Dem who had been the town's MP since 1997 is considering a come back.

Cited as a key seat in the upcoming election, Thomas will hope 55 per cent of his constituents who backed Brexit will opt for him over the pro-EU Lib Dems.

Another thing in his favour is with Labour a distant fourth, UKIP came third in St Ives and those voters, now they have achieved their aim of leaving the EU, are more likely to back him than the Lib Dems.

David Mowat – Warrington South – Majority of 2,750

David Mowat

Travelling up to the Cheshire town of Warrington, David Mowat faces an all together different challenge.

His closest rival is not the Lib Dems but Labour.

Despite holding the seat since 2010, Mowat still has a relatively small majority of 2,750.

His constituents narrowly voted for Brexit (by 50.6 per cent) unlike Mowat who describes himself a 'reluctant inner'.

But despite the threat from Labour, who held the seat for 18 years before Mowat arrived, he can rely on Labour's confusion over Brexit and dismal polling to mean he should survive June 8.

Kevin Foster – Torbay – Majority of 3,286

Wikipedia

Back on the south coast, Kevin Foster faces a different challenge again.

He nabbed the seaside town from Adrian Sanders in 2015 after the Lib Dem had held it 1997.

But he faces a different challenge to many of his south-coast Conservatives. A remainer in a seat where 62 per cent voted to leave, Foster must convince his constituents he can be trusted on Brexit.

Despite the antagonism against him by Brexiteers, his stance may help stave off the challenge by the Lib Dems who are even less likely to convince the 62 per cent to back their pro-EU campaign.

Ben Howlett – Bath – Majority of 3,833 

Twitter / Ben Howlett

Another steal from the Lib Dems in 2015, a huge factor this June will be the 68 per cent of Bath who backed Remain.

Although Howlett led the south-west's Remain campaign, his allegiance to the Tories and Theresa May could give him a real headache in this election.

The Lib Dems' Don Foster had held the seat comfortably since 1992 and Howlett had to overturn his nearly 12,000 majority to win in 2015.

Now the Lib Dems are eyeing Bath as one of their key targets for this election. But they have not been helped after their candidate and local chairman Jay Risbridger withdrew from the race citing personal and business reasons.