The wait is over, the polls opened at 7am and early indications are that turnout will be strong as the morning rush turned into a steady stream of voters.

Thousands are expected cast their ballot in one of the most tightly-fought campaigns in recent memory.

The constituencies of Sutton & Cheam, as well as Carshalton & Wallington, are key seats.

Voters will have an important role in deciding what the next Government will look like.

According to the website VoterPower.org residents in Sutton & Cheam have 2.45 times the voting power than the UK average ranking 64th out of 650 constituencies in the Voter Power Index.

The seat is tighter than most.

Both areas have remained firmly Liberal Democrat yellow since the national surge away from the Conservatives in 1997, but both are regarded as top targets by the Tories if they want to get back into power.

The Conservatives have not won a general election outright since failing to secure the borough’s two seats.

So eyes are on Sutton.

Your 2015 general election Carshalton and Wallington candidates

Your 2015 general election Sutton and Cheam candidates

In Sutton and Cheam, the front runners are the Liberal Democrats followed by Conservatives, but Labour, UKIP, TUSC, Green and the National Health Action Party have all been campaigning hard meaning residents’ votes genuinely matter.

Across in Carshalton & Wallington the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives are the forerunners, but will be challenged by candidates from UKIP, Green, Labour, the Christian People’s Alliance and the National Front.

It was a clear two-horse race in Sutton and Cheam in 2010, with Lib Dem Paul Burstow securing his fourth win, with 22,156 votes. He took home 45.7 per cent of the total votes case.

Conservative Philippa Stroud came second with 20,548 votes - 42 per cent.

Across the border in Carshalton and Wallington, it was a similar story at the top, although Lib Dem Tom Brake managed to increase his lead, with a 7 per cent swing in his favour, pulling in 22,180 votes, enough for a 48.3 share.

VoterPower has this as a fairly safe Liberal Democrat seat but that has not stopped Matthew Maxwell Scott from hoping he can improve on the 16,920, or 36.8 per cent of the total, who voted for the Conservative’s Ken Andrew in 2010.

Polls open across the borough from 7am to 10pm.

Read about all the candidates hoping to win your vote at suttonguardian.co.uk/ generalelection2015.