Weston-super-Mare (UK Parliament constituency)

Weston-super-Mare
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Weston-super-Mare in Avon.
Location of Avon within England.
County	Somerset
Electorate	78,778 (December 2010)^[1]
Current constituency
Created	1918 (1918)
Member of Parliament	John Penrose (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South West England

Weston-super-Mare 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.

1 Boundaries
2 Members of Parliament
3 Elections
4 See also
5 Notes and references
6 Sources

Boundaries

The constituency covers the southern half of North Somerset Unitary Authority, including the town of Weston-super-Mare, the villages of Kewstoke, Locking, Hutton, Banwell, Winscombe, Congresbury, Churchill and Blagdon, and several smaller villages.

Members of Parliament

	Member^[2]	Party
1918	Sir Gilbert Wills, Bt.	Conservative
1922	Lord Erskine	Conservative
1923	Frank Murrell	Liberal
1924	Lord Erskine	Conservative
1934 by-election	Ian Orr-Ewing	Conservative
1958 by-election	David Webster	Conservative
1969 by-election	Jerry Wiggin	Conservative
1997	Brian Cotter	Liberal Democrat
2005	John Penrose	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Weston-super-Mare^[3]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Penrose	23,356	44.3	+4.0
	Liberal Democrat	Mike Bell	20,665	39.2	+3.1
	Labour	David Bradley	5,772	10.9	-7.8
	UKIP	Paul Spencer	1,406	2.7	+0.2
	BNP	Peryn Parsons	1,098	2.1	+0.5
	English Democrats	John Peverelle	275	0.5	+0.5
	Independent	Steve Satch	144	0.3	+0.3
Majority			2,691	5.1
Turnout			52,716	67.2	+1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.4

Boundary change: Weston constituency loses Butcombe to the new North Somerset constituency (the successor to Woodspring). First effective at the General Election of 2010. This minor boundary change only affected around 100 electors.

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Weston-super-Mare^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Penrose	19,804	40.3	+1.6
	Liberal Democrat	Brian Cotter	17,725	36.1	−3.4
	Labour	Damien Egan	9,169	18.7	−1.1
	UKIP	Paul Spencer	1,207	2.5	+1.1
	BNP	Clive Courtney	778	1.6
	Independent	William Human	225	0.5
	Demanding Honesty in Politics and Whitehall	Paul Hemingway-Arnold	187	0.4
Majority			2,079	4.2
Turnout			49,095	65.5	+2.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	+2.5

General Election 2001: Weston-super-Mare^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Brian Cotter	18,424	39.5	-0.6
	Conservative	John Penrose	18,086	38.7	+1.0
	Labour	Derek Kraft	9,235	19.8	+1.9
	UKIP	Bill Lukins	650	1.4
	Independent	John Peverelle	206	0.4
	Independent	Richard Sibley	79	0.2
Majority			338	0.8
Turnout			46,680	62.8	-10.8
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	-0.8

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Weston-super-Mare^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Brian Cotter	21,407	40.1
	Conservative	Mrs. Margaret Daly	20,133	37.7
	Labour	Derek Kraft	9,557	17.9
	Referendum Party	Tom Sewell	2,280	4.3
Majority			1,274	2.4
Turnout			53,377	73.7
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing

Boundary Changes: Weston constituency loses Yatton and Wrington areas to Woodspring constituency. First effective at 1997 General Election.

General Election 1992: Weston-super-Mare^[4]^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jerry Wiggin	30,022	47.7	−1.7
	Liberal Democrat	Brian Cotter	24,680	39.3	+3.7
	Labour	DE Murray	6,913	11.0	−0.4
	Green	Dr. RH Lawson	1,262	2.0	−1.6
Majority			5,342	8.5	−5.4
Turnout			62,877	79.7	+4.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.7

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jerry Wiggin	28,547	49.4
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	John Crockford-Hawley	20,549	35.6
	Labour	Paul Loach	6,584	11.4
	Green	Richard Lawson	2,067	3.6
Majority			7,998	13.8
Turnout			57,747	75.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jerry Wiggin	27,948	53.6
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	Jonathan Marks	18,457	35.4
	Labour	Roger Berry	5,781	11.1
Majority			9,491	18.2
Turnout			52,186	73.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Boundary Changes: Weston constituency loses Berrow, Brent Knoll, Axbridge, Cheddar, Mark & Wedmore areas to Wells constituency, and loses Clevedon to Woodspring constituency. First effective at 1983 General Election.

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jerry Wiggin	40,618	56.9
	Liberal	Rowland Morgan	16,305	22.9
	Labour	Alan Taylor	14,420	20.2
Majority			24,313	34.0
Turnout			71,343	77.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jerry Wiggin	31,028	48.8
	Liberal	Roger Miller	18,169	28.6
	Labour	Peter Owen	14,057	22.1
	United Democratic	Eric Iszatt	296	0.5
Majority			12,859	20.2
Turnout			63,550	74.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jerry Wiggin	33,838	50.0
	Liberal	Philip Golding	20,237	29.9
	Labour	Roy Morris	13,542	20.0
Majority			13,601	20.1
Turnout			67,617	80.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jerry Wiggin	33,816	57.9
	Labour	Miss Sarah Palmer	14,473	24.8
	Liberal	Edward Deal	10,120	17.3
Majority			19,343	33.1
Turnout			58,409	73.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

Weston-super-Mare by-election 27th March 1969
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jerry Wiggin	29,211	65.7
	Liberal	Edward Deal	8,739	19.7
	Labour	Nicholas Bosanquet	6,504	14.6
Majority			20,472	46.0
Turnout			44,454	60.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1966: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Webster	27,733	52.1
	Labour	Melvyn Butcher	15,340	28.8
	Liberal	Ian McDonald	10,173	19.1
Majority			12,393	23.3
Turnout			53,246	78.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Webster	27,143	53.1
	Labour	Miss Jessie Stephen	12,248	23.9
	Liberal	Ian McDonald	11,771	23.0
Majority			14,895	29.2
Turnout			51,162	79.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Webster	27,881	57.5
	Labour	Edward Hampton	10,977	22.7
	Liberal	Edward Taylor	9,609	19.8
Majority			16,904	34.8
Turnout			48,467	79.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Weston-super-Mare by-election 12th June 1958
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Webster	21,271	49.3
	Labour	Edward Hampton	11,295	26.2
	Liberal	Edward Taylor	10,588	24.5
Majority			9,976	23.1
Turnout			43,154	72.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Ian Orr-Ewing	27,357	62.7
	Labour	Robert Andrews	16,275	37.3
Majority			11,082	25.4
Turnout			43,632	73.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Orr-Ewing	30,485	65.7
	Labour	Robert Andrews	15,942	34.3
Majority			14,543	31.4
Turnout			46,427	79.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Orr-Ewing	26,767	56.4
	Labour	Michael Hill	13,294	28.0
	Liberal	Archie Kew	7,394	15.6
Majority			13,473	53.6
Turnout			47,455	83.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Boundary changes: Weston constituency loses Portishead, Gordano, Nailsea, Backwell and Long Ashton areas to North Somerset constituency. First effective at 1950 General Election.

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Orr-Ewing	30,720	49.5
	Labour	Bruce Cardew	20,542	33.1
	Liberal	Stanley Sanger	10,804	17.4
Majority			10,178	16.4
Turnout			62,066	73.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Orr-Ewing	27,735	65.7
	Liberal	Henry Scott-Stokes	7,883	18.7
	Labour	George Elvin	6,625	15.7
Majority			19,852	47.0
Turnout			42,243	66.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Weston-super-Mare by-election June 1934
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Orr-Ewing	21,203	61.5
	Liberal	Henry Scott-Stokes	7,551	21.9
	Labour	Albert Millett	5,715	16.6
Majority			13,652	39.6
Turnout			34,469
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Erskine, Lord Erskine	35,255	85.7
	Labour	Bernard Craig	5,905	14.3
Majority			29,350	71.4
Turnout			41,160	71.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Erskine, Lord Erskine	22,898	52.2
	Liberal	William Morse	16,219	37.0
	Labour	Mrs. Constance Borrett	4,766	10.9
Majority			6,670	15.2
Turnout			43,883	79.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1924: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Erskine, Lord Erskine	17,987	55.8
	Liberal	Frank Murrell	12,895	40.0
	Labour	Raphael Neft	1,343	4.2
Majority			5,092	15.8
Turnout			32,225	81.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1923: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frank Murrell	15,223	51.5
	Conservative	John Erskine, Lord Erskine	14,318	48.5
Majority			905	3.0
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1922: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Erskine, Lord Erskine	15,552	55.1
	Liberal	Frank Murrell	12,674	44.9
Majority			2,878	10.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Weston-super-Mare
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Coalition Conservative	Sir Gilbert Wills	13,494	65.5
	Liberal	Edmund Thruston	7,104	34.5
Majority			6,390	31.0
	Coalition Conservative hold		Swing

Constituency created 1918 from parts of Wells and North Somerset constituencies.

The constituency comprised the Urban Districts of Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon and Portishead, and the Rural Districts of Axbridge and Long Ashton.

Notes and references

^ "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.
^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 3)
^ Turner, Graham (20 April 2010). "Election of a Member of Parliament, Weston-super-Mare Constituency" (PDF). Acting Returning Officer, North Somerset Council. http://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/AE59E426-45FA-4473-B636-96E255B86661/0/Election2010CandidatesWsM.pdf. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Weston-Super-Mare". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/constituency/1436/weston-super-mare. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-06.

Sources

The Constitutional Year Book for 1913 (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)
F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
Michael Kinnear, The British Voter (London: BH Batsford, Ltd, 1968)
Henry Pelling, Social Geography of British Elections 1885-1910 (London: Macmillan, 1967)
Frederic A Youngs, jr, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)

Constituencies in South West England (55)

Conservative (36)	Bournemouth East Bournemouth West Bridgwater and West Somerset Bristol North West Camborne and Redruth Central Devon Christchurch Devizes East Devon Filton and Bradley Stoke Forest of Dean Gloucester Kingswood Newton Abbot North Dorset North East Somerset North Somerset North Swindon North Wiltshire Plymouth Sutton and Devonport Poole Salisbury South Dorset South East Cornwall South Swindon South West Devon South West Wiltshire Stroud Tewkesbury The Cotswolds Tiverton and Honiton Torridge and West Devon Totnes Truro and Falmouth West Dorset Weston-super-Mare

Liberal Democrats (15)	Bath Bristol West Cheltenham Chippenham Mid Dorset and North Poole North Cornwall North Devon St Austell and Newquay St Ives Somerton and Frome Taunton Deane Thornbury and Yate Torbay Wells Yeovil

Labour (4)	Bristol East Bristol South Exeter Plymouth Moor View

South West England European constituency: Conservative (3) UKIP (2) Liberal Democrats (1)