Yeovil (UK Parliament constituency)

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Yeovil County constituency
Yeovil shown within Somerset, and Somerset shown within England
Created:	1918
MP:	David Laws
Party:	Liberal Democrat
Type:	House of Commons
County:	Somerset
EP constituency:	South West England

Yeovil is a county 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 History 3 Members of Parliament 4 Election results 4.1 Elections in the 1990s 4.2 Elections in the 1970s 5 See also 6 References

[edit] Boundaries

The constituency covers the towns of Yeovil, Chard, Crewkerne and Ilminster in Somerset. Until 1983 Somerset was split into four constituencies and Yeovil constitency also contained the towns of Ilchester, Martock and Somerton but they were moved into the newly created constituency of Somerton and Frome. From the next election, Yeovil constituency will contain Ilchester once again to equalise the populations of the Somerset constituencies.

The Boundary Commission for England estimate the electorate of Yeovil constituency after the pending boundary changes to be 77,049.

Yeovil 31,812, Chard 11,455, Crewkerne 6,103, Ilminster 3,825, Ilchester 2,177

The remaining 21,677 electors live in various villages between the aforementioned towns.

[edit] History

From 1918 until 1983, Yeovil always returned a Conservative MP. However since then the seat has always been held by a member of the Liberal Democrats, firstly Paddy Ashdown (1983 - 2001) and then David Laws (2001 onwards).

[edit] Members of Parliament

• Constituency created (1918)

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Aubrey Herbert	Conservative
	1923	Sir George Davies	Conservative
	1945	William Kingsmill	Conservative
	1951	John Peyton	Conservative
	1983	Paddy Ashdown	Liberal
	1988		Liberal Democrat
	2001	David Laws	Liberal Democrat

[edit] Election results

Confirmed candidates for the next UK general election [1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kevin Davis
	UK Independence	Eric Edmond
	Liberal Democrat	David Laws
	Labour	Paul Smith

General Election 2005: Yeovil
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	David Laws	25,658	51.4	+7.2
	Conservative	Ian Jenkins	17,096	34.3	-1.7
	Labour	Colin Rolfe	5,256	10.5	-4.2
	UK Independence	Graham Livings	1,903	3.8	+1.5
Majority			8,562	17.2
Turnout			49,913	64.3	0.1
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	+4.5

General Election 2001: Yeovil
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	David Laws	21,266	44.2	-4.6
	Conservative	Marco Forgione	17,338	36.0	+8.4
	Labour	Joe Conway	7,077	14.7	-0.2
	UK Independence	Neil Boxall	1,131	2.3	N/A
	Green	Alex Begg	786	1.6	+0.3
	Liberal	Anthony Prior	534	1.1	N/A
Majority			3,928	8.2	-12.8
Turnout			48,132	64.2	-8.5
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	-6.5

[edit] Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Yeovil
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Paddy Ashdown	26,349	48.7	-2.9
	Conservative	Nick Cambrook	14,946	27.7	-9.3
	Labour	Joe Conway	8,053	14.9	+5.3
	Referendum Party	John Beveridge	3,574	6.6	N/A
	Green	David Taylor	728	1.3	+0.2
	Independent	John Archer	306	0.6	N/A
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	Christopher Hudson	97	0.2	N/A
Majority			11,403	21.0
Turnout			53,747	72.3	-9.7
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	+3.2

General Election 1992: Yeovil
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Paddy Ashdown	30,958	51.7	+0.3
	Conservative	Julian Davidson	22,125	36.9	-4.4
	Labour	Vivien Elson	5,765	9.6	+2.3
	Green	Jay Risbridger	639	1.1	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Screaming Lord Sutch	338	0.6	N/A
	Independent	Reginald Simmerson	70	0.1	N/A
Majority			8,833	14.7	+4.6
Turnout			59,895	82.0	+2.3
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	+2.4

[edit] Elections in the 1970s

General Election October 1974: Yeovil
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Peyton	25,658	43.0
	Labour	M. T. McVicar	17,330	29.0
	Liberal	G. F. Taylor	17,298	29.0
	Independent	J. E. Tippett	332	0.6
Majority			7379
Turnout			59,669	79.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

[edit] See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Somerset

v • d • e Constituencies in South West England Conservative Bournemouth East • Bournemouth West • Bridgwater • Christchurch • Cotswold • Devizes • East Devon • Forest of Dean • North Dorset • North Wiltshire • Poole • Salisbury • South West Devon • Tewkesbury • Tiverton and Honiton • Torridge and West Devon • Totnes • Wells • West Dorset • Westbury • Weston-super-Mare • Woodspring Liberal Democrat Bath • Bristol West • Cheltenham • Falmouth and Camborne • Mid Dorset and North Poole • North Cornwall • North Devon • Northavon • Somerton and Frome • South East Cornwall • St Ives • Taunton • Teignbridge • Torbay • Truro and St Austell • Yeovil Labour Bristol East • Bristol North West • Bristol South • Exeter • Gloucester • Kingswood • North Swindon • Plymouth Devonport • Plymouth Sutton • South Dorset • South Swindon • Stroud • Wansdyke South West England European constituency Conservative (3) • UKIP (2) • Liberal Democrats (1) • Labour (1)

[edit] References

1. ^ Yeovil, UKPollingReport