Warwick and Leamington (UK Parliament constituency)

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Warwick and Leamington
County constituency

Warwick and Leamington shown within Warwickshire, and Warwickshire shown within England
Created: 1885
MP: James Plaskitt
Party: Labour
Type: House of Commons
County: Warwickshire
EP constituency: West Midlands

Warwick and Leamington 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. The constituency includes the towns of Warwick and Leamington Spa as well as surrounding villages. Its current MP is James Plaskitt of the Labour Party, who was first elected in the 1997 general election.

The constituency was created in 1885, partially replacing the earlier Warwick constituency.

Contents

[edit] History

Warwick and Leamington are close together and although still distinct towns, they are now joined into a continuous urban area. Both are relatively prosperous, although there are pockets of deprivation in Leamington. Warwick is a popular tourist destination while Leamington's economy is more industrial. Leamington is also more ethnically diverse (some five per cent of the constituency's population is Asian) and is home to many students of the University of Warwick.

Represented by Conservatives since 1910, including for 34 years Anthony Eden, the seat had not been expected to change hands in the 1997 general election. James Plaskitt's defeat of the Conservative incumbent, Dudley Smith, came as a surprise, even in the context of Labour's landslide victory. Plaskitt increased his majority in the 2001 election, but on a lower turnout. In the 2005 election, Warwick and Leamington was 85th on the Conservative list of target seats, meaning that to gain it they would have required a somewhat greater swing than was seen nationally. With the greatest increase in support being seen by the Liberal Democrats, Plaskitt only narrowly held the seat, with his majority slashed from nearly 6,000 votes to only 266.

However, boundary changes in Labour's favour which will take effect at the next general election mean that Warwick and Leamington will not necessarily be as marginal as this result suggests.

[edit] Members of Parliament

Year Member Party
1885 Arthur Wellesley Peel Liberal
1895 Alfred Lyttelton Liberal Unionist
1906 Thomas Berridge Liberal
1910 Ernest Pollock Conservative
1923 Anthony Eden Conservative
1957 John Hobson Conservative
1968 Dudley Smith Conservative
1997 James Plaskitt Labour

[edit] Election results

General election, 2005: Warwick and Leamington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Plaskitt 22,238 40.6 −8.2
Conservative Chris White 21,972 40.1 +2.5
Liberal Democrats Linda Forbes 8,119 14.8 +3.7
Green Ian Davison 1,534 2.8 N/A
UK Independence Greville Warwick 921 1.7 +0.5
Majority 266 0.5 −10.7
Turnout 54,744 67.4 +1.6
Labour hold Swing −5.4
General election, 2001: Warwick and Leamington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Plaskitt 26,108 48.8 +4.3
Conservative David Bannerman 20,155 37.6 −1.2
Liberal Democrats Linda Forbes 5,964 11.1 −0.7
Socialist Alliance Claire Kime 664 1.2 N/A
UK Independence Greville Warwick 648 1.2 N/A
Majority 5,953 11.2 +5.5
Turnout 53,539 65.8 −9.3
Labour hold Swing 2.8
General election, 1997: Warwick and Leamington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Plaskitt 26,747 44.5 +11.5
Conservative Dudley Smith 23,349 38.9 −9.5
Liberal Democrats Nigel Hicks 7,133 11.9 −4.7
Referendum Party Val Davis 1,484 2.5 N/A
Green Paul Baptie 764 1.3 −0.1
Independent (politician) Greville Warwick 306 0.5 N/A
Independent (politician) Michael Gibbs 183 0.3 N/A
Natural Law Roddy McCarthy 125 0.2 −0.1
Majority 3,398 5.7
Turnout 60,091 75.1 −6.5
Labour gain from Conservative Swing 10.5
General election, 1992: Warwick and Leamington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dudley Smith 28,093 48.4 −1.4
Labour Matthew Taylor 19,158 33.0 +9.5
Liberal Democrats S. E. Boad 9,645 16.6 −7.9
Green J. A. Alty 803 1.4 −0.6
Independent (politician) R. Newby 251 0.4 N/A
Natural Law J. Brewster 156 0.3 N/A
Majority 8,935 15.4 −9.9
Turnout 58,108 81.6 −5.6
Conservative hold Swing −5.5
General election, 1987: Warwick and Leamington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dudley Smith 27,530 49.8 −1.1
Alliance (SDP) K. P. O'Sullivan 13,548 24.5 −1.4
Labour A. Christina 13,019 23.5 +1.5
Green J. A. Alty 1,214 2.2 +0.9
Majority 13,982 25.3 +0.3
Turnout 55,311 76.0 +2.4
Conservative hold Swing −1.3
General election, 1983: Warwick and Leamington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dudley Smith 26,512 50.9 −3.5
Alliance (SDP) R. Behrens 13,480 25.9 +10.9
Labour R. Chessum 11,463 22.0 −7.3
Ecology Party N. Charlton 685 1.3 −0.1
Majority 13,032 25.0 0.0
Turnout 52,140 73.6 −4.1
Conservative hold Swing −7.2
General election, 1979: Warwick and Leamington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dudley Smith 35,925 54.4 +7.3
Labour C. J. Gray 19,367 29.3 −3.8
Liberal D. Woodcock 9,905 15.0 −4.8
Ecology Party P. Sizer 905 1.4 N/A
Majority 16,558 25.0 +11.0
Turnout 66,102 77.7 +2.9
Conservative hold Swing +5.6
General election, October 1974: Warwick and Leamington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dudley Smith 27,721 47.1 −0.4
Labour J. W. England 19,476 33.1 +3.4
Liberal T. A. Jones 11,625 19.8 −3.0
Majority 8,245 14.0 −3.8
Turnout 58,822 74.8 −6.8
Conservative hold Swing −1.9
General election, February 1974: Warwick and Leamington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dudley Smith 30,167 47.5 −15.9
Labour J. W. England 18,874 29.7 −6.9
Liberal T. A. Jones 14,500 22.8 N/A
Majority 11,293 17.8 −9.0
Turnout 63,541 81.6 +9.0
Conservative hold Swing −19.4
General election, 1970: Warwick and Leamington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dudley Smith 36,994 63.4 −4.9
Labour John Watkinson 21,355 36.6 +20.1
Majority 15,639 26.8 −25.0
Turnout 58,349 72.6 −6.3
Conservative hold Swing −12.5
Warwick and Leamington by-election, 1968
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dudley Smith 28,914 68.3 +16.7
Labour Raymond Carter 6,992 16.5 −19.6
Liberal Antony Butcher 6,415 15.2 +2.9
Majority 21,922 51.8 +36.8
Conservative hold Swing 18.2
General election, 1966: Warwick and Leamington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Hobson 28,918 51.6 −2.2
Labour L. J. Huckfield 20,221 36.1 +2.0
Liberal Antony Butcher 6,912 12.3 +0.2
Majority 8,697 15.5 −4.2
Turnout 56,051 78.9 −1.5
Conservative hold Swing −2.1
General election, 1964: Warwick and Leamington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Hobson 29,749 53.8 −8.8
Labour N. J. Spearing 18,865 34.1 −3.3
Liberal P. Gibson 6,676 12.1 N/A
Majority 10,884 19.7 −5.5
Turnout 55,290 80.4 −2.3
Conservative hold Swing −10.5
General election, 1959: Warwick and Leamington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Hobson 32,513 62.6
Labour W. Wilson 19,434 37.4
Majority 13,079 25.2
Turnout 51,947 82.7

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Constituencies in the West Midlands
Labour

Birmingham Edgbaston | Birmingham, Erdington | Birmingham Hall Green | |Birmingham Hodge Hill | Birmingham Northfield | Birmingham Perry Barr | Birmingham Selly Oak | Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath | Burton | Cannock Chase | Coventry North East | Coventry North West | Coventry South | Dudley North | Dudley South | Halesowen and Rowley Regis | Newcastle-under-Lyme | North Warwickshire | Nuneaton | Redditch | Stafford | Staffordshire Moorlands | Stoke-on-Trent Central | Stoke-on-Trent North | Stoke-on-Trent South | Stourbridge | Tamworth | Telford | Walsall North | Walsall South | Warley | Warwick and Leamington | West Bromwich East | West Bromwich West | Wolverhampton North East | Wolverhampton South East | Wolverhampton South West | Worcester
Conservative

Aldridge-Brownhills | Bromsgrove | Leominster | Lichfield | Ludlow | Meriden | Mid Worcestershire | North Shropshire | Rugby and Kenilworth | Shrewsbury and Atcham | South Staffordshire | Stone | Stratford-on-Avon | Sutton Coldfield | The Wrekin | West Worcestershire
Liberal Democrat

Birmingham Yardley | Hereford | Solihull
Health Concern

Wyre Forest
Independent

Birmingham, Ladywood
West Midlands European constituency: Conservative (3) | Labour (2) | UKIP (1) | Liberal Democrats (1)
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