During the general election campaign Newsnight's Stephen Smith is decamping to Donington Park services on the M1 motorway. Here we explain why he has decided to make like Alan Partridge and take up residence in a motorway hotel, and why what happens there should matter to us all.

A motorway service station may not sound like a key election battleground, but according to psephologists, motorway service stations - or rather, the people who regularly use them and live near them - hold the power to swing the outcome on 6 May.

All of the three main political parties, and many of the smaller ones, use Mosaic, a giant database dividing the UK population into socio-economic groupings, to find out information about likely voting intentions.

Meet the staff and regulars joining Newsnight's Motorway Man

In past years politicians could be seen scrambling to secure the votes of Mondeo Man and Worcester Woman, but they now have a new target in their sights - Motorway Man and Motorway Woman.

Experian, the company behind the Mosaic system, has identified this group as exerting a special influence over marginal seats.

But who are Motorway Man and Motorway Woman? Psephologist Bruno Rost from Experian explains:

"They tend to live in new housing, on the periphery of small provincial towns and cities, within easy access of the motorway networks.

"They'll have new cars, houses full of all the new gadgetry like Blu-ray and HD. They're also driven by personality politics and the next new thing. They voted for Blair in 1997. In 2010 they're inclined towards the new man on the block."

Experian say that Motorway Man and Motorway Woman represent 11.6% of UK households and 15% of the vote.

But not just 15% anywhere - 15% in the key target marginals.

'Swing' country

At Donington Park services Newsnight has met the real Motorway Man in the form of Shane Aspinshaw, regional finance director for home appliance company Indesit.

Every month his team, who are based across the country, meet at Donington Park services equipped with their laptops, mobile phones and company cars.

But the service station is also home to voters of every stripe and background - the college graduate working to pay off his student debts, the trainee manager struggling to get onto the first rung of the property ladder, the seventy-three year old cleaner who cannot afford to retire.

Throughout his stay at Donington Park Stephen will be getting to know the staff and the regulars, and so will you.

And Donington Park is smack in the middle of "swing" country.

Travel five junctions north or five junctions south and along this narrow corridor of the M1 and you will find three seats won at the 2005 general election with majorities of less than 10%.

Watch the first instalment of Motorway Man on Newsnight on Wednesday 7 April 2010 at 10.30pm on BBC Two.

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