Mid Sussex (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 51°01′59″N 0°06′54″W / 51.033°N 0.115°W / 51.033; -0.115

Mid Sussex
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Mid Sussex in West Sussex.
Location of West Sussex within England.
County	West Sussex
Electorate	77,044 (December 2010)^[1]
Major settlements	East Grinstead, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill
Current constituency
Created	1974 (1974)
Member of parliament	Nicholas Soames (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	East Grinstead and Lewes
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

Mid Sussex is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Nicholas Soames, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

Constituency profile

The constituency is in the north east of West Sussex bordering East Sussex, containing relatively small villages and the towns of East Grinstead, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill, all of which have green buffers preventing them from being contiguous and rail connections to Brighton, London Gatwick Airport and the City of London. The motorway network is also close by, the M23 providing access to this, west of the main towns.

Income levels are on average considerably higher than the national average^[2] and levels of rented^[3] and social housing^[2] are below the national average, particularly levels seen in cities.

Boundaries

1974-1983: The Urban Districts of Burgess Hill and Cuckfield, and the Rural District of Cuckfield.

1983-1997: The District of Mid Sussex wards of Ardingly, Bolney, Burgess Hill Chanctonbury, Burgess Hill Franklands, Burgess Hill North, Burgess Hill St Andrews, Burgess Hill Town, Burgess Hill West, Clayton, Cuckfield, East Grinstead East, East Grinstead North, East Grinstead South, East Grinstead West, Haywards Heath Ashenground, Haywards Heath Bentswood, Haywards Heath Franklands, Haywards Heath Harlands, Haywards Heath Heath, Horsted Keynes, Hurstpierpoint, Keymer, Lindfield Rural, Lindfield Urban, and West Hoathly.

1997-2010: The District of Mid Sussex wards of Ardingley, Burgess Hill Chanctonbury, Burgess Hill Franklands, Burgess Hill North, Burgess Hill St Andrews, Burgess Hill Town, Burgess Hill West, Cuckfield, East Grinstead East, East Grinstead North, East Grinstead South, East Grinstead West, Haywards Heath Ashenground, Haywards Heath Bentswood, Haywards Heath Franklands, Haywards Heath Harlands, Haywards Heath Heath, Horsted Keynes, Lindfield Rural, Lindfield Urban, and West Hoathly.

2010-present: The District of Mid Sussex wards of Ashurst Wood, Bolney, Burgess Hill Dunstall, Burgess Hill Franklands, Burgess Hill Leylands, Burgess Hill Meeds, Burgess Hill St Andrews, Burgess Hill Victoria, Cuckfield, East Grinstead Ashplats, East Grinstead Baldwins, East Grinstead Herontye, East Grinstead Imberhorne, East Grinstead Town, Haywards Heath Ashenground, Haywards Heath Bentswood, Haywards Heath Franklands, Haywards Heath Heath, Haywards Heath Lucastes, High Weald, and Lindfield.

History

The constituency was created in 1974 from parts of the seats of Lewes and East Grinstead, and has undergone significant boundary changes at every periodical review that it has been around for. Prior to 1983, the local government district had actually been a part of East Sussex, but as a result of delayed implementation of the Local Government Act 1972, it was almost wholly moved into West Sussex.

At the 1983 general election, it gained some of the wards previously contained in East Grinstead, and at the 1997 election, it gained many of the semi-rural wards with smaller communities between East Grinstead and Crawley.

From its creation in 1983 to the present, it has been a safe Conservative seat, with the primary opposition until the 2015 election being the Liberal Democrats and their predecessors the Liberal party. In 2015, however, the severe fall in Lib Dem support saw Labour's candidate come second in the seat for the first time in its history, although much further behind the Conservatives than the Lib Dem candidates of elections past have tended to be.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member^[4]	Party
	Feb 1974	Tim Renton	Conservative
	1997	Nicholas Soames	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Mid Sussex^[5]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas Soames	32,268	56.1	+5.4
	Labour	Greg Mountain	7,982	13.9	+7.3
	UKIP	Toby Brothers	6,898	12.0	+9.5
	Liberal Democrat	Daisy Cooper^[7]	6,604	11.5	−26.0
	Green	Miranda Diboll^[8]	2,453	4.3	+3.1
	Independent	Beki Adam^[9]	958	1.7	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Baron Von Thunderclap	329	0.6	+0.1
Majority			24,286	42.2
Turnout			57,492	72.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 2010: Mid Sussex^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas Soames	28,329	50.7	+2.5
	Liberal Democrat	Serena Tierney	20,927	37.5	+1.8
	Labour	David Boot	3,689	6.6	−6.2
	UKIP	Marc Montgomery	1,423	2.5	−0.7
	Green	Paul Brown	645	1.2	+1.2
	BNP	Stuart Minihane	583	1.0	+1.0
	Monster Raving Loony	Baron von Thunderclap	259	0.5	+0.5
Majority			7, 402	13.3
Turnout			55,855	72.4	+3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.3

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Mid Sussex
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas Soames	23,765	48.0	+1.8
	Liberal Democrat	Serena Tierney	17,875	36.1	+5.0
	Labour	Robert Fromant	6,280	12.7	−6.3
	UKIP	Harold Piggott	1,574	3.2	+0.7
Majority			5,890	11.9
Turnout			49,494	68.6	3.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.6

General Election 2001: Mid Sussex
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas Soames	21,150	46.2	+2.7
	Liberal Democrat	Lesley Wilkins	14,252	31.1	+0.5
	Labour	Paul Mitchell	8,693	19.0	+0.3
	UKIP	Petrina Holdsworth	1,126	2.5	+1.3
	Monster Raving Loony	Baron Von Thunderclap Berry	601	1.3	N/A
Majority			6,898	15.1
Turnout			45,822	64.9	−12.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Mid Sussex
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas Soames	23,231	43.5	−15.5
	Liberal Democrat	Margaret Collins	16,377	30.6	+2.4
	Labour	Mervyn Hamilton	9,969	18.6	+8.0
	Referendum	Tam Large	3,146	5.9	N/A
	UKIP	J.V. Barnett	606	1.1	N/A
	Independent	Ernest Tudway	134	0.3	N/A
Majority			6,854	12.8
Turnout			53,463	77.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

This constituency underwent boundary changes between the 1992 and 1997 general elections and thus change in share of vote is based on a notional calculation.

General Election 1992: Mid Sussex^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Timothy Renton	39,524	59.0	−2.1
	Liberal Democrat	Margaret Collins	18,996	28.4	−3.1
	Labour	L C Gregory	6,951	10.4	+3.0
	Green	H G Stevens	772	1.1	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	P B Berry	392	0.6	N/A
	Independent	P D Hodkin	246	0.4	N/A
	Natural Law	Dr A M A Hankey	89	0.1	N/A
Majority			20,528	30.6	+1.0
Turnout			66,970	82.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.7

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Mid Sussex
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Timothy Renton	37,781	61.1	-0.3
	Liberal	N S E Westbrook	19,489	31.5	-0.8
	Labour	R S E Hughes	4,573	7.4	+1.4
Majority			18,292	29.6
Turnout			61,843	77.2	+2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Mid Sussex
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Timothy Renton	35,310	61.4
	Liberal	J M Campbell	18,566	32.3
	Labour	P A Hawkes	3,470	6.0
	Independent	J Bray	196	0.3
Majority			16,744	29.1
Turnout			57,542	74.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

This constituency underwent boundary changes between the 1979 and 1983 general elections and thus calculation of the change in share of vote is not possible.

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Mid Sussex
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Timothy Renton	32,548	61.2
	Liberal	J M Campbell	11,705	22.0
	Labour	Des Turner	8,260	15.5
	Independent Conservative	S M H Haslett	697	1.3
Majority			20,843	39.2
Turnout			53,210	78.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Mid Sussex
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Timothy Renton	25,126	53.9
	Liberal	Robert Alexander Symes-Schutzman	13,129	28.1
	Labour	M R Fraser	8,404	18.0
Majority			11,997	25.7
Turnout			46,659	76.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Mid Sussex
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Timothy Renton	27,317	54.1
	Liberal	Robert Alexander Symes-Schutzman	15,162	30.0
	Labour	M R Fraser	7,993	15.8
Majority			12,155	24.1
Turnout			50,472	83.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Notes and references

Notes

↑ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
↑ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

↑ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
1 2 2001 Census
↑ 2011 census interactive maps
↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ http://www.bbc.com/news/politics/constituencies/E14000817
↑ "Daisy Cooper PPC page". Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
↑ http://midsussex.greenparty.org.uk/2013-08-08/local-party-elects-prospective-parliamentary-candidates-for-horsham-and-mid-sussex.html
↑ "Mid Sussex". YourNextMP. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010.

Sources

Election result, 2015 (BBC)
Election result, 2010 (BBC)
Election result, 2005 (BBC)
Election results, 1997 - 2001 (BBC)
Election results, 1997 - 2001 (Election Demon)
Election results, 1983 - 1997 (Election Demon)
Election results, 1974 - 2001 (Political Science Resources)

Constituencies in South East England (84)

Conservative (78)	Aldershot Arundel and South Downs Ashford Aylesbury Banbury Basingstoke Beaconsfield Bexhill and Battle Bognor Regis and Littlehampton Bracknell Brighton Kemptown Canterbury Chatham and Aylesford Chesham and Amersham Chichester Crawley Dartford Dover Eastbourne East Hampshire Eastleigh East Surrey East Worthing and Shoreham Epsom and Ewell Esher and Walton Fareham Faversham and Mid Kent Folkestone and Hythe Gillingham and Rainham Gosport Gravesham Guildford Hastings and Rye Havant Henley Horsham Isle of Wight Lewes Maidenhead Maidstone and The Weald Meon Valley Mid Sussex Milton Keynes North Milton Keynes South Mole Valley Newbury New Forest East New Forest West North East Hampshire North Thanet North West Hampshire Oxford West and Abingdon Portsmouth North Portsmouth South Reading East Reading West Reigate Rochester and Strood Romsey and Southampton North Runnymede and Weybridge Sevenoaks Sittingbourne and Sheppey Southampton Itchen South Thanet South West Surrey Spelthorne Surrey Heath Tonbridge and Malling Tunbridge Wells Wantage Wealden Winchester Windsor Witney Woking Wokingham Worthing West Wycombe

Labour (4)	Hove Oxford East Slough Southampton Test

Green (1)	Brighton Pavilion

Speaker (1)	Buckingham

South East England European constituency: UKIP (4) Conservative (3) Green (1) Labour (1) Liberal Democrats (1)

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