Hexham (UK Parliament constituency)

Hexham
County constituency
for the House of Commons

Boundary of Hexham in Northumberland.

Location of Northumberland within England.
County Northumberland
Electorate 60,499 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created 1885 (1885)
Member of Parliament Guy Opperman (Conservative)
Number of members One
Created from North Northumberland and South Northumberland
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency North East England

Hexham 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. It is considered a safe seat for the Conservative Party.

Colonel Douglas Clifton Brown, who was Speaker of the House of Commons during the latter years of the Second World War, represented the seat for two separate tenures. The current MP is Guy Opperman who was elected at the general election in May 2010.

Contents

Boundaries

The constituency is named after the town of Hexham in Northumberland. It includes the former Tynedale district and part of the former Castle Morpeth district. A mostly rural seat which houses much of Newcastle's commuting middle-class, Hexham was the only Conservative seat in the North East between 1997–2010, and the only one in Northumberland since 1973.

(Tynedale and Castle Morpeth district councils were abolished in April 2009 in favour of a unitary Northumberland County Council).

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Northumberland, the Boundary Commission for England has made only minor changes to the existing boundaries of the Hexham constituency. The electoral wards used in its formation are:

Members of Parliament

Election Member[2] Party
1885 Miles MacInnes Liberal
1892 Nathaniel George Clayton Conservative
1893 Miles MacInnes Liberal
1895 Wentworth Beaumont, later Viscount Allendale Liberal
1907 by-election Richard Durning Holt Liberal
1918 Douglas Clifton Brown Coalition Conservative
1923 Victor Harold Finney Liberal
1924 Douglas Clifton Brown Conservative
1943 Speaker
1951 Rupert Speir Conservative
1966 Geoffrey Rippon Conservative
1987 Alan Amos Conservative
1992 Peter Atkinson Conservative
2010 Guy Opperman Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Hexham [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Guy Opperman 18,795 43.2 +0.8
Liberal Democrat Andrew Duffield 13,007 29.9 +4.2
Labour Antoine Tinnion 8,253 19.0 -11.4
Independent Steven Ford 1,974 4.5 +4.5
BNP Quentin Hawkins 1,205 2.8 +2.8
Independent Colin Moss 249 0.6 0.6
Majority 5,788 13.3
Turnout 43,483 70.8 +2.2
Conservative hold Swing -1.7

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Hexham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Peter Atkinson 17,605 42.4 -2.2
Labour Kevin Graham 12,585 30.3 -8.3
Liberal Democrat Andrew Duffield 10,673 25.7 +10.7
English Democrats Ian Riddell 521 1.3 +1.3
Imperial Thomas Davison 129 0.3 +0.3
Majority 5,020 12.1
Turnout 41,513 68.8 -2.1
Conservative hold Swing +3.0
General Election 2001: Hexham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Peter Atkinson 18,917 44.6 +5.8
Labour Paul Brannen 16,388 38.6 +0.4
Liberal Democrat Philip Latham 6,380 15.0 -2.4
UKIP Alan Patterson 728 1.7 -0.8
Majority 2,529 6.0
Turnout 42,413 70.9 -6.6
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Hexham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Peter Atkinson 17,701 38.8
Labour Ian McMinn 17,479 38.2
Liberal Democrat Philip Carr 7,959 17.4
Referendum Party Robert Waddell 1,362 3.0
UKIP David Lott 1,170 2.6
Majority 222 0.5
Turnout 45,671 77.5
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1992: Hexham[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Peter Atkinson 24,967 52.4 +2.8
Labour ICF Swithenbank 11,529 24.2 +6.2
Liberal Democrat JC Wallace 10,344 21.7 −10.0
Green JP Hartshorne 781 1.6 +0.9
Majority 13,438 28.2 +10.3
Turnout 47,621 82.4 +2.3
Conservative hold Swing −1.7

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Hexham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alan Amos 22,370 49.59
Liberal E.M. Robson 14,304 31.71
Labour M.R. Wood 8,103 17.96
Green S.M. Wood 336 0.74
Majority 8,066 17.88
Turnout 80.04
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1983: Hexham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Geoffrey Rippon 21,374 51.51
Liberal E.M. Robson 13,066 31.49
Labour Stephen Byers 7,056 17.00
Majority 8,308 20.02
Turnout 73.36
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Hexham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Geoffrey Rippon 25,483 47.98
Labour Stuart Bell 16,935 31.88
Liberal John Shipley 10,697 20.14
Majority 8,548 16.09
Turnout 79.52
Conservative hold Swing

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
  2. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 3)
  3. ^ "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Hexham". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/election2010/results/constituency/c19.stm. 
  4. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-06. 
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Daventry		 Constituency represented by the Speaker
1943–1951		 Succeeded by
Cirencester and Tewkesbury
Constituencies in North East England (29)
Labour (25)
Conservative (2)
Liberal Democrats (2)