The solicitor MPs who are standing in the firing line

Hopefuls up for election again in England and Wales

Twenty-five solicitors who were MPs during the last parliament are standing for election again in constituencies in England and Wales.The Labour solicitors are Mike O'Brien (Warwickshire North), who was a Home Office minister, Hazel Blears (Salford), a backbencher and chairwoman of the all-party parliamentary motorcycling group, and fellow backbenchers Keith Darvill (Upminster), Andrew Dismore (Hendon) and Harriet Harman (Camberwell and Peckham).Maria Eagle (Liverpool Garston) was parliamentary under-secretary for social security.

Other Labour MPs sat on select committees: Michael Foster (Hastings and Rye) and Helen Jones (Warrington North), education and employment; Alan Hurst (Braintree), agriculture; David Kidney (Stafford), Treasury; and Claire Ward (Watford), culture, media and sport.

Keith Vaz (Leicester East), the minister for Europe, is a solicitor turned barrister.

The Conservative solicitors are Richard Ottaway (Croydon South), the shadow Paymaster-General; Gary Streeter (Devon South West), the shadow secretary of state for international development; Nigel Waterson (Eastbourne), the opposition spokesman on environment, transport and the regions; and Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury), who was parliamentary private secretary to Michael Ancram.David Ruffley (Bury St Edmunds) was on the Treasury select committee, while Eleanor Laing (Epping Forest) was opposition spokesman on Scottish constitutional affairs.On the backbenches were arch Euro-sceptic Bill Cash (Stone), Humfrey Malins (Woking), Patrick Nicholls (Teignbridge), John Taylor (Solihull), and Peter Viggers (Gosport).For the Liberal Democrats, John Burnett (Torridge and Devon West) was the party's legal affairs spokesman.Elfyn Llwyd (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy), a solicitor turned barrister, is also standing again, and is the parliamentary leader of Plaid Cymru.