With the General Election 2017 just days away Christian Today is zooming in on some crucial battleground seats where Christian candidates are in the spotlight.
Maria Caulfield is unabashed about both her strong Christian views and her fierce determination to win the marginal seat of Lewes in the face of a strong Liberal Democrat campaign.
Caulfield was the lead voice against an attempt to decriminalise abortion in parliament before the election and is one of a number of Brexit-supporting Tory MPs struggling in a Remain-leaning constituency.
A former nurse, she won the former Liberal Democrat stronghold from Norman Baker in 2015 by just 1,083 votes.
But this time she faces a progressive alliance with the Green party, who won 2,784 votes in 2015, opting not to field a candidate and urging supporters to back the Lib Dem's Kelly-Marie Blundell.
Staking her reputation on being unafraid to inccur the wrath of her party, Caulfield told her local paper The Argus she was regularly called in to the Whips office for a ticking off.
But she may end up paying the price for supporting Brexit with most of her constituents (53 per cent) voting Remain.
Pitching their campaign as the only alternative to a hard Brexit, the Lib Dems are looking to exploit this.
But so far the much heralded #LibDemFightback has yet to take off.
Polls show for most Remain voters Brexit is not the main issue in this election and is not pursuading them to switch from traditional party loyalties. It seems the Lib Dems have misjudged the level of anger over Brexit and found themselves leading on an issue that isn't grabbing voters' attention.
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron's failure to cut through also isn't helping. Despite scandals over his views on abortion and gay sex, Farron is not perceived as dangerous (only nine per cent). Rather his flip-flops on his views haven't helped with just four per cent thinking he is strong and five per cent saying he is courageous.
Finally despite the threat of Green voters backing the Lib Dems, perhaps more significant is the 5,427 UKIP voters in Lewes. Even if only a minority switch back to the Tories, Caulfield should overcome the progressive alliance and retain her seat.
