General election 2019: Focus on Preseli Pembrokeshire

With fewer than 2,000 residents, St Davids in Pembrokeshire is the smallest city in the UK

From St Ann's Head on its south-western tip to St Dogmaels and the boundary with Cardigan in the north - Preseli Pembrokeshire is home to the UK's smallest city, a gateway to southern Ireland, a hub for oil and energy and a major tourist destination.

But what does the 2019 election mean for the parties contesting this seat?

It's said that Saint David, whose cathedral stands in Preseli, told us to remember the little things, and certainly this is a seat noted for small majorities.

There were just 314 votes separating the Conservative and Labour candidates here last time and this election is certain to be hard fought.

The seat has been represented by only two MPs since its creation in 1997 and has been in Conservative hands since 2005. A Labour victory here would be a major blow for the Conservatives in Wales.

Both the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru held Ceredigion and North Pembrokeshire, one of Preseli Pembrokeshire's predecessor seats, but neither party has made a mark here since the boundaries were re-drawn.

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The seat combines the largely rural, traditionally Welsh speaking north of Pembrokeshire with a chunk of the traditionally English speaking "Little England beyond Wales". It includes the county town of Haverfordwest and the largely working class communities on the northern shore of Milford Haven.

Haverfordwest is the county town and a key retail hub for the area

The Preseli hills after which the constituency is named are famed as the source of "blue stone" used in the construction of Stonehenge.

Despite having some of Wales' most stunning scenery and a number of tourist honeypots, the area isn't without its problems.

The ports of Milford Haven and Fishguard, along with tourism and agriculture provide the backbone of the local economy but wages remain low with the median income in Pembrokeshire amongst the lowest in Wales.

The area is an important gateway to southern Ireland - with ferries to Rosslare from both Pembroke Dock and Fishguard

The disparity between low local incomes and high house prices is among the largest in the UK, causing younger families to move away from the area leaving behind an ageing population and strained health and social care services.

Attempts to downgrade or replace the local general hospital, Withybush, have been fiercely resisted locally, although the hospital is frequently criticised, most recently for its poor record on A&E waiting times.

Poor connectivity is another problem and while the frequency of the rail services to Fishguard has improved, the major highway the A40 is frequently slow and congested.

A £50m programme of improvements is currently under way in the face of continued calls for the road to be dualled.

Milford Haven remains a key part of the UK energy industry when it comes to gas and oil

And looming over it all is Brexit with no-one quite sure what effect leaving the EU would have on the ferry port of Fishguard, the energy industry around Milford Haven and the rest of the Pembrokeshire economy.