Bassetlaw (UK Parliament constituency)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bassetlaw County constituency |
|
|---|---|
  |
|
| Bassetlaw shown within Nottinghamshire, and Nottinghamshire shown within England | |
| Created: | 1885 |
| MP: | John Mann |
| Party: | Labour |
| Type: | House of Commons |
| County: | Nottinghamshire |
| EP constituency: | East Midlands |
Bassetlaw is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Contents |
[edit] Boundaries
The Bassetlaw constituency covers the north of Nottinghamshire, including the town of Worksop. It shares the name of the Bassetlaw district although the boundaries of the two differ; in particular, the constituency does not contain the town of Retford, which is in the Newark constituency.
Since 1997, the constituency has included the following wards of Bassetlaw district:
- Beckingham, Blyth, Carlton, Clayworth, Everton, Harworth East, Harworth West, Hodsock, Misterton, Rampton, Ranskill, Sturton, Sutton, Welbeck, Worksop East, Worksop North, Worksop North East, Worksop North West, Worksop South, Worksop South East.
The constituency also includes the town of Warsop, with it containing the Birklands and Meden wards of the Mansfield district.
[edit] Boundary review
Following their review of parliamentary boundaries in Nottinghamshire, the Boundary Commission for England has made only minor changes to the existing constituencies to allow for population changes. The boundaries of the modified constituency to be fought at the next general election are:
- From the District of Bassetlaw: Beckingham, Blyth, Carlton, Clayworth, East Retford East, East Retford North, East Retford South, East Retford West, Everton, Harworth, Langold, Misterton, Ranskill, Sturton, Sutton, Welbeck, Worksop East, Worksop North, Worksop North East, Worksop North West, Worksop South and Worksop South East
[edit] History
The constituency was created in 1885 by the Redistribution of Seats Act.
[edit] Boundaries' history
The Bassetlaw Division (named after one of the ancient Wapentakes of the county) as originally constituted included the borough of East Retford, the petty sessional divisions of Retford and Worksop and part of Mansfield petty sessional division.
In 1918, the number of parliamentary divisions in Nottinghamshire was increased from four to five, with resulting changes in boundaries. Bassetlaw Division was now defined as containg the Borough of East Retford, the Urban Districts of Warsop and Worksop and the Rural Districts of Blyth & Cuckney, Misterton and East Retford, with the civil parish of Sookholme from the Skegby Rural District.
In 1948, the five Parliamentary Divisions of Nottinghamshire were reorganised as six County Constituencies. The boundaries of Bassetlaw County Constituency were virtually unchanged, though local government changes in the 1930s now meant that it was defined as comprising the Boroughs of East Retford and Worksop, the Urban District of Warsop and the Rural Districts of East Retford and Worksop.
The constituency's boundaries then remained unchanged until 1983. In that year, the town of East Retford and the neighbouring areas were transferred to the Newark constituency. Bassetlaw constituency then comprised Worksop and surrounding areas in the Bassetlaw district as well as the town of Warsop in the Mansfield district. There were only minor boundary changes in 1997.
[edit] Electoral history
Bassetlaw is a safe seat for the Labour Party, with them having held it since 1935. In fact, Labour first won the seat in the 1929 general election. However its Member of Parliament Malcolm MacDonald was one of the few Labour MPs to join his father Ramsay MacDonald's National Government. MacDonald held the seat as a National Labour candidate in the 1931 election, but was defeated at the next election in 1935 by Labour's Frederick Bellenger.
Bellenger held his seat until his death in 1968. The subsequent by-election was won by Joe Ashton, who served as MP until his retirement at the 2001 general election. The current MP, since 2001, is John Mann.
[edit] Members of Parliament
| Year | Member | Party |
|---|---|---|
| 1885 | William Beckett-Denison | Conservative |
| 1890 | Frederick George Milner | Conservative |
| 1906 | Frank Hillyard Newnes | Liberal |
| 1910 | William Ellis Hume-Williams | Conservative |
| 1929 | Malcolm MacDonald | Labour, National Labour from 1931 |
| 1935 | Frederick Bellenger | Labour |
| 1968 | Joe Ashton | Labour |
| 2001 | John Mann | Labour |
[edit] Elections
| General Election 2005: Bassetlaw | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Mann | 22,847 | 56.6 | +1.3 | |
| Conservative | Jonathan Sheppard | 12,010 | 29.8 | -0.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | David Dobbie | 5,485 | 13.6 | +0.9 | |
| Majority | 10,837 | 26.9 | |||
| Turnout | 40,342 | 58.1 | +1.3 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | +0.9 | |||
| General Election 2001: Bassetlaw | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Mann | 21,506 | 55.3 | -5.7 | |
| Conservative | Alison Holley | 11,758 | 30.2 | +5.3 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Neil Taylor | 4,942 | 12.7 | +2.5 | |
| Socialist Labour | Kevin Meloy | 689 | 1.8 | N/A | |
| Majority | 9,748 | 25.1 | |||
| Turnout | 38,895 | 56.8 | -13.6 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 1997: Bassetlaw | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Joe Ashton | 29,298 | 61.1 | +7.7 | |
| Conservative | Martin Cleasby | 11,838 | 24.7 | -10.3 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Mike Kerringan | 4,950 | 10.3 | -1.3 | |
| Referendum Party | R. Graham | 1,838 | 3.8 | N/A | |
| Majority | 17,460 | ||||
| Turnout | 70.4 | -8.1 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 1992: Bassetlaw | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Joe Ashton | 29,061 | 53.4 | ||
| Conservative | Caroline Spelman | 19,064 | 35.0 | ||
| Liberal Democrats | Michael Reynolds | 6,340 | 11.6 | ||
| Majority | 9,997 | 18.4 | |||
| Turnout | 78.5 | ||||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
[edit] See also
| Constituencies in the East Midlands | |
|---|---|
| Labour |
Amber Valley | Ashfield | Bassetlaw | Bolsover | Broxtowe | Corby | Derby North | Derby South | Erewash | Gedling | High Peak | Leicester East | Leicester South | Leicester West | Lincoln | Loughborough | Mansfield | Northampton North | North East Derbyshire | North West Leicestershire | Nottingham East | Nottingham North | Nottingham South | Sherwood | South Derbyshire |
| Conservative |
Blaby | Boston and Skegness | Bosworth | Charnwood | Daventry | Gainsborough | Grantham and Stamford | Harborough | Kettering | Louth and Horncastle | Newark | Northampton South | Rushcliffe | Rutland and Melton | Sleaford and North Hykeham | South Holland and The Deepings | Wellingborough | West Derbyshire |
| Liberal Democrat | |
| East Midlands European constituency: Conservative (2) | UKIP (2) | Labour (1) | Liberal Democrats (1) | |
