Election 2010: How farming politicians fared

The dust is settling after a night of political upheaval.

This is how the election unfolded for farmer politicians, rural marginals and those who hold sway over the farming agenda.

• Hilary Benn, DEFRA secretary of state, held onto the seat of Leeds Central despite a 4.8% swing to Liberal Democrats.

• Shadow DEFRA secretary Nick Herbert held his rural seat in Arundel and South Downs with an increased majority.

• Jim Paice, shadow minister for agriculture, comfortably maintained his seat of South East Cambridgeshire.

• Roger Williams, Liberal Democrat rural affairs spokesman, held on to his large rural constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire.

• Zac Goldsmith, former editor of The Ecologist magazine and long-time environment and organic food campaigner, won the Richmond Park seat for the Tories.

• Simon Hart, who has for several years been chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, won the seat of Carmarthen West and Pembrokeshire South for the Conservatives.

• Peter Aldous won the seat of Waveney with a 6.8% swing from Labour. Mr Aldous is a chartered surveyor who helps to run the family pig and arable farm outside Halesworth.

• Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, who is best know for his food range called The Black Farmer, was beaten into second place by the Lib Dems in Chippenham.

• Margaret Beckett, first Secretary of State at DEFRA and architect of the hybrid SPS model in England, held her Derby South seat.

• Farmer Philip Dunne saw off a challenge from the Lib Dem’s in the constituency of Ludlow. Mr Dunne is a partner in a family farm.

• Simon Wright, Lib Dem, took one of the biggest Labour scalps of the election with a narrow victory over former home secretary Charles Clarke in Norwich South. Mr Wright is a farmer’s son brought up near Dereham.

• Julian Sturdy, the new Conservative MP for York Outer, is a local farmer and son of NFU member Robert Sturdy, MEP for the UK Eastern Region.

• Neil Parish, a former MEP for the south west where he was Conservative spokesman for agriculture, took the seat of Tiverton and Honiton.

• George Eustice, who comes from a Cornish farming family and worked in the family business before entering politics, took the seat of Camborne and Redruth for the Conservatives.

• Elfyn Llwyd, Plaid Cymru’s rural affairs spokesman in Westminster held his significant majority in his North Wales seat of Dwyfor Meirionnydd, albeit with a 7.3% swing to the Tories.

• Glyn Davies, a farmer and a former chairman of the Development Board for Rural Wales, took the seat of Montgomery for the Tories, knocking out Lib Dem Lembit Opik.

• Nick Boles, the son of a sheep farmer from Devon, took the seat of Grantham and Stamford for the Tories.

•Tim Farron, LibDem shadow DEFRA secretary held Westmorland and Lonsdale with an increased majority.