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 parliamentary 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 1 Boundaries 2 Boundary review 3 History 3.1 Boundaries' history 3.2 Electoral history 4 Members of Parliament 5 Elections 6 See also

[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 containing 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

Election		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
	1931		National Labour
	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 Democrat	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 Democrat	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 Democrat	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 Democrat	Michael Reynolds	6,340	11.6
Majority			9,997	18.4
Turnout				78.5
	Labour hold		Swing

[edit] See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Nottinghamshire

v • d • e Constituencies in the East Midlands Labour Amber Valley · Ashfield · Bassetlaw · Bolsover · Broxtowe · Corby · Derby North · Derby South · Erewash · Gedling · Grantham and Stamford · 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 · 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 Chesterfield East Midlands European constituency: Conservative (2) · UKIP (2) · Labour (1) · Liberal Democrats (1)