Isle of Wight (UK Parliament constituency)

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Isle of Wight County constituency
Isle of Wight shown within England
Created:	1832
MP:	Andrew Turner
Party:	Conservative
Type:	House of Commons
County:	Isle of Wight
EP constituency:	South East England

The Isle of Wight is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Contents 1 Boundaries 2 History 3 Members of Parliament 4 Elections 4.1 Elections in the 2000s 4.2 Elections in the 1990s 4.3 Elections in the 1980s 4.4 Elections in the 1970s 4.5 Elections in the 1960s 4.6 Elections in the 1950s 4.7 Elections in the 1940s 5 See also 6 References

[edit] Boundaries

The Isle of Wight forms a single constituency of the House of Commons, with an electorate of 108,253 (as of 2004). This is by far the largest electorate in the country, and more than 50% above the England average of 70,026; it is five times the size of the smallest electorate (Na h-Eileanan an Iar, formerly known as the Western Isles), despite the Isle of Wight having some of the same problems as an island constituency. Successive Boundary Commissions have considered the possibility of splitting the island into two constituencies (or possibly having a constituency crossing the Solent onto the mainland) but with a distinct lack of local enthusiasm for either option it was felt that the island would be better represented by a single MP. One repeated problem has been the difficulty of dividing the island in two in a way that would be acceptable to all interests. [1]

The next review of constituency boundaries is scheduled to take place between 2010 and 2012, at which it is likely that the question of multiple constituencies on the Island will be revisited.

The constituency covers exactly the same land area as the ceremonial county of the Isle of Wight, and the area administered by the unitary authority, Isle of Wight Council.

[edit] History

Before the Reform Act of 1832 the island had 3 Parliamentary boroughs: Newport, Newtown, and Yarmouth, each electing two MPs. Outside of the boroughs, people were represented by the two members for Hampshire. The Reform Act abolished Newtown and Yarmouth parliamentary boroughs, and created a constituency for the whole of the Isle of Wight. The separate Newport borough was abolished in 1885.

The constituency is traditionally a battleground between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. Between 1974 and 1987 the seat was a Liberal seat, then becoming Conservative until 1997 when the Liberal Democrats won on a reduced Conservative vote. The seat reverted to the Conservatives in 2001.

See also: Newtown constituency, Newport constituency and Yarmouth constituency

[edit] Members of Parliament

Year	Member	Party
1832	Sir Richard Simeon
1837	William Holmes à Court	Conservative
1847	John Simeon
1851	Edward Dawes
1852	Francis Vernon Harcourt
1857	Charles Cavendish Clifford
1865	Sir John Simeon
1870	Alexander Baillie-Cochrane	Conservative
1880	Evelyn Ashley	Liberal
1885	Sir Richard Webster	Conservative
1900	John Seely	Conservative until 1904, then Liberal
1906	Godfrey Baring	Liberal
1910	Sir Douglas Hall	Conservative
1922	Sir Edgar Chatfeild-Clarke	Liberal
1923	John Seely	Liberal
1924	Sir Peter Macdonald	Conservative
1959	Martin Woodnutt	Conservative
1974	Stephen Ross	Liberal
1987	Barry Field	Conservative
1997	Dr Peter Brand	Liberal Democrat
2001	Andrew Turner	Conservative

[edit] Elections

[edit] Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Turner	32,717	48.9	+9.2
	Liberal Democrat	Anthony Rowlands	19,739	29.5	-5.8
	Labour	Mark Chiverton	11,484	17.2	+2.0
	UK Independence	Michael Tarrant	2,352	3.5	+0.2
	Independent	Edward Corby	551	0.8
Majority			12,978	19.4
Turnout			66,843	61.3	+0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.5

General Election 2001: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Turner	25,223	39.7	+5.7
	Liberal Democrat	Peter Brand	22,397	35.3	-7.5
	Labour	Deborah Gardiner	9,676	15.2	+2.1
	UK Independence	David Lott	2,106	3.3	+1.9
	Independent	David Holmes	1,423	2.2
	Green	Paul Scivier	1,279	2.0	+1.3
	Isle of Wight Party	Philip Murray	1,164	1.8
	Socialist Labour	James Spensley	214	0.3
Majority			2,826	4.4
Turnout			63,482	60.8	-11.2
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	6.6

[edit] Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Dr Peter Brand	31,274	42.7	-2.9
	Conservative	Andrew Turner	24,868	34.0	-13.9
	Labour	Deborah Gardiner	9,646	13.2	+7.2
	Referendum Party	Tim Bristow	4,734	6.5
	UK Independence	Malcom Turner	2,106	1.5
	Independent	Harry Rees	848	1.2
	Green	Paul Kevin Scivier	544	0.7
	Natural Law	Clive Daly	87	0.1	-0.3
	Rainbow Warriors	Jonathan Eveleigh	86	0.1
Majority			6,406	8.6
Turnout			74,193	72.0	-7.8
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing	6.6

General Election 1992: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Field	38,163	47.9	-3.3
	Liberal Democrat	Dr Peter Brand	36,336	45.6	+2.7
	Labour	Ken Pearson	4,784	6.0	+0.1
	Natural Law	C Daly	350	0.4
Majority			1,827	2.3	-6.0
Turnout			79,633	79.8	+0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

[edit] Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Field	40,175	51.2
	Liberal Democrat	M.A. Young	33,733	42.9
	Labour	K. Pearson	4,626	5.9
Majority			6,442	8.3
Turnout			78,560	79.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing

General Election 1983: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Stephen Ross	38,407	51.0
	Conservative	Virginia Bottomley	34,904	46.3
	Labour	C. Wilson	1,828	2.4
	Isle of Wight Residents Party	T.B.J. McDermott	208	0.3
Majority			3,503	4.7
Turnout				80.0
	Liberal hold		Swing

[edit] Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Stephen Ross	35,889	48.2
	Conservative	J.D. Fishburn	35,537	47.7
	Labour	C Wilson	3,014	4.0
Majority			352
Turnout				81.8%
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1974 (October): Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Stephen Ross	29,697	45.1
	Conservative	J.D. Fishburn	27,657	42.0
	Labour	L.D. Brooke	8,562	13.0
Majority			2,040
Turnout				76.7
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1974 (February): Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Stephen Ross	34,808	50.2
	Conservative	Martin Woodnutt	27,042	39.0
	Labour	TC Bisson	7,495	10.8
Majority			7,766
Turnout				81.4
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1970: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Woodnutt	30,437	52.4
	Labour	K.W. Boulton	13,111	22.6
	Liberal	Stephen Ross	12,883	22.2
	Vectis National Party	R.W.J Cowdell	1,607	2.8
Majority			17,326
Turnout				72.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

[edit] Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Woodnutt	25,862	48.6
	Labour	P Stephenson	15,411	29.0
	Liberal	Stephen Ross	11,915	22.4
Majority				75.0
Turnout			10,451
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1966: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Woodnutt	27,497	53.5
	Labour	W Mann	16,244	31.6
	Liberal	B Bliss	7,666	14.9
Majority			11,253	21.9
Turnout				74.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

[edit] Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Woodnutt	31,228	62.9
	Labour	E.C. Amey	18,396	37.1
Majority			12,832	25.9
Turnout				74.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Peter Macdonald	31,335	62.6
	Labour	S.G. Conbeer	18,698	37.4
Majority			12,637	25.3
Turnout				74.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Peter Macdonald	33,501	61.8
	Labour	S.G. Conbeer	20,712	38.2
Majority			12,789	23.6
Turnout				80.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Peter Macdonald	32,984	60.5
	Labour	S.G. Conbeer	21,496	39.5
Majority			11,488	21.1
Turnout				80.61
	Conservative hold		Swing

[edit] Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Isle of Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Peter Macdonald	22,036	46.6
	Labour	W.J. Miller	19,252	40.7
	Liberal	M. O'Connor	5,967	12.6
Majority			2,784	5.9
Turnout			47,255	76.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

[edit] See also

• Politics of the Isle of Wight

[edit] References

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