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There are several groups of voters who may prove crucial in this election - older people, younger people (registering supposedly in greater numbers), maybe women.

But there's one group which often complains about being ignored - the rural voter.

Our politicians know there's a greater concentration of votes and seats in our big cities, so campaigning does tend to be focused on our urban centres.

But of course our region has some of the most sparsely-populated constituencies in the country.

Penrith and the Border, Westmorland and Lonsdale, Berwick, Hexham, even the likes of Bishop Auckland.

And they often have just as many issues and problems as our inner city seats.

Post office closures have hit many villages - around 120 branches in the North East and Cumbria were closed in 2008.

The lack of affordable housing is a huge issue in the countryside with many young local people forced to move away.

Just 7% of young people were are able to access affordable housing in Allerdale in Cumbria, and 2% in the South Lakes.

Some of our rural communities are not as wealthy as they might appear either. There may be some well-heeled people, but average incomes are often much lower than in towns.

And with the drift away of young people comes the loss of services like schools, shops and public transport.

On top of that many of our villages have been resisting windfarm developments and of course rural Cumbria and Northumberland have been affected by flooding.

All issues we'll look at in the latest of our debates this Sunday.

We're coming live from a village hall in Cumbria with Conservative Rory Stewart, Labour's Jamie Reed and Lib Dem Stan Collins.

And a panel of voters who want answers about what the parties can offer our villages.

Slightly later start this week by the way. The London Marathon to blame - I hasten to add I'm not running. So kick off time for us is 2pm.

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