South West Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 51°57′29″N 0°29′28″W / 51.958°N 0.491°W / 51.958; -0.491

South West Bedfordshire
County constituency
for the House of Commons

Outline map

Boundary of South West Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire.

Outline map

Location of Bedfordshire within England.
County Bedfordshire
Electorate 76,178 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard and Houghton Regis
Current constituency
Created 1983
Member of parliament Andrew Selous (Conservative)
Number of members One
Created from South Bedfordshire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency East of England

South West Bedfordshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.[n 1] As with all constituencies of the UK Parliament, it elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.

The serving Member since 2001 is Conservative Andrew Selous, who succeeded Conservative David Madel. Selous has been re-elected three times: in 2005, 2010, and 2015.

History

The constituency was created in 1983, mostly from the former seat of South Bedfordshire. It was represented by Sir David Madel, a Conservative, from its creation until his retirement in 2001; he almost suffered one of the biggest upsets of the 1997 general election, when the Labour Party's candidate spectacularly cut his majority from 21,273 to just 132.

The present Conservative MP for the seat is Andrew Selous; he won the seat in 2001, when he managed to increase the party's majority, but only just: this increased somewhat more substantially each time in 2005 and 2010, ultimately to more than 16,000. The 2010 election also saw the second-placed candidate's party change, to the Liberal Democrats, similar to the results of 1983 and 1987, when this was the joint platform for R. Byfield and J.R. Burrow respectively, the (SDP-Liberal Alliance).

Boundaries

1983-1997: The District of South Bedfordshire wards of Beaudesert, Brooklands, Dunstable Central, Eaton Bray, Heath and Reach, Hockliffe, Houghton Central, Houghton East, Houghton South, Icknield, Kensworth, Linslade, Northfields, Plantation, Priory, Southcott, Stanbridge, Studham, Totternhoe, and Watling, and the District of Mid Bedfordshire wards of Aspley, Cranfield, Marston, and Woburn.

1997-2010: The District of South Bedfordshire wards of Beaudesert, Brooklands, Dunstable Central, Eaton Bray, Heath and Reach, Hockliffe, Houghton Central, Houghton East, Houghton South, Icknield, Kensworth, Linslade, Northfields, Plantation, Priory, Southcott, Stanbridge, Studham, Totternhoe, and Watling.

2010-present: The District of South Bedfordshire wards of All Saints, Chiltern, Dunstable Central, Eaton Bray, Grovebury, Heath and Reach, Houghton Hall, Icknield, Kensworth and Totternhoe, Linslade, Manshead, Northfields, Parkside, Planets, Plantation, Southcott, Stanbridge, Tithe Farm, and Watling.

Constituency profile

At the time of the 2011 Census, the population of the constituency of South West Bedfordshire was recorded as 102,031 persons, of whom 50,277 were male, and 51,754 were female.[2] 74.30% of usual residents aged 16-74 are economically active, including 4.22% unemployed. A further 13.27% of the population are retired (lower than both the regional average of 14.4% and national average of 13.7%), and 3.75% are students.[3] A statistical compilation by The Guardian showed unemployment benefits claimants in the constituency for April 2013 were 3.3% of the population, lower than the regional average of 3.6%.[4]

Turnout at the 2015 General Election was 51,304, or 64.4% of those eligible to vote; lower than the national turnout of 66.4%.[5][6]

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember[7] Party
1983 Sir David Madel Conservative
2001 Andrew Selous Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2017: South West Bedfordshire[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Andrew Selous 32,961 59.2 +4.3
Labour Daniel Scott 18,793 33.8 +13.5
Liberal Democrat Daniel Norton 2,630 4.7 -0.4
Green Morvern Rennie 950 1.7 -2.4
Christian Peoples Morenike Mafoh 301 0.5 +0.5
Majority 14,168 25.5 -9.2
Turnout 55,635 69.8 +5.4
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 2015: South West Bedfordshire[9][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Andrew Selous [10] 28,212 55.0 +2.2
Labour Daniel Scott [10] 10,399 20.3 +0.7
UKIP John van Weenen [11] 7,941 15.5 +11.3
Liberal Democrat Stephen Rutherford [12] 2,646 5.2 −14.9
Green Emily Lawrence [13] 2,106 4.1 N/A
Majority 17,813 34.7 +1.9
Turnout 51,304 64.4 -1.9
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 2010: South West Bedfordshire[14][15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Andrew Selous 26,815 52.8 +4.5
Liberal Democrat Rod Cantrill 10,166 20.0 +3.2
Labour Jenny Bone 9,948 19.6 −10.6
UKIP Martin Newman 2,142 4.2 +0.0
BNP Mark Tolman 1,703 3.4 N/A
Majority 16,649 32.8 +14.7
Turnout 50,774 66.3 +4.5
Conservative hold Swing +0.7

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: South West Bedfordshire[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Andrew Selous 22,114 48.3 +6.2
Labour Joyce Still 13,837 30.2 −10.2
Liberal Democrat Andrew Strange 7,723 16.9 +2.1
UKIP Tom Wise 1,923 4.2 +1.5
Open-Forum Kenson Gurney 217 0.5 N/A
Majority 8,277 18.1 +16.4
Turnout 45,814 61.8 -0.3
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 2001: South West Bedfordshire[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Andrew Selous 18,477 42.1 +1.4
Labour Andrew Date 17,701 40.4 −0.1
Liberal Democrat Martin Pantling 6,473 14.8 +0.5
UKIP Tom Wise 1,203 2.7 +1.9
Majority 776 1.7 +1.4
Turnout 43,854 62.1 −13.7
Conservative hold Swing +0.7

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: South West Bedfordshire[18][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative David Madel 21,534 40.7 −15.5
Labour Andrew Date 21,402 40.5 +14.7
Liberal Democrat Stephen Owen 7,559 14.3 −2.3
Referendum Rosalind Hill 1,761 3.3 N/A
UKIP Tom Wise 446 0.8 N/A
Natural Law Alexander Le Carpentier 162 0.3 −0.1
Majority 132 0.2 -32.2
Turnout 52,864 75.8 -6.1
Conservative hold Swing −16.1
General Election 1992: Bedfordshire South West[20][21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative David Madel 37,498 57.1 −1.0
Labour Barry Elliott 16,225 24.7 +6.5
Liberal Democrat Mark Freeman 10,988 16.7 −5.5
Green Peter Rollings 689 1.0 −0.3
Natural Law John Gilmour 239 0.4 N/A
Majority 21,273 32.4 −3.5
Turnout 65,639 81.9 +3.6
Conservative hold Swing −3.7

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: South West Bedfordshire[22][23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative David Madel 36,140 58.2 +3.2
Social Democratic John Burrow 13,835 22.3 −5.5
Labour Paul Dimoldenberg 11,352 18.3 +1.1
Green Peter Rollings 822 1.3 N/A
Majority 22,305 35.9 +8.7
Turnout 62,149 78.7 +3.1
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1983: South West Bedfordshire[24][25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative David Madel 31,767 55.0 N/A
Social Democratic Richard Byfield 16,036 27.8 N/A
Labour William Cochrane 9,899 17.2 N/A
Majority 15,731 27.2 N/A
Turnout 57,702 75.6 N/A
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ South West Bedfordshire is a county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer).

References

  1. ↑ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on November 6, 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. ↑ "Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Key Figures for 2011 Census: Economic Activity". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "Unemployment: the key UK data and benefit claimants for every constituency". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Statement Of Persons Nominated And Notice Of Poll" (PDF). Acting Returning Officer. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "The May 2015 UK elections: Report on the administration of the 7 May 2015 elections, including the UK Parliamentary general election" (PDF). p. 3.
  7. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 2)
  8. ↑ Carr, Richard (11 May 2017). "Dated Thursday 11 May 2017 Richard Carr Acting Returning Officer Printed and published by the Acting Returning Officer , Priory House, Monks Walk, Chicksands, Shefford, Bedfordshire, SG17 5TQ STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED, NOTICE OF POLL AND SITUATION OF POLLING STATIONS" (PDF). Central Bedfordshire Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-06-06.
  9. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. 1 2 "UK ELECTION RESULTS". electionresults.blogspot.co.uk.
  11. ↑ "2015 Parliamentary Adopted Candidates". myukip.com. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "List of selected candidates". Liberal Democrats.
  13. ↑ "Bedfordshire South West parliamentary constituency - Election 2015 - BBC News". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  14. ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  15. ↑ http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/images/South%20Beds%20Statement%20of%20Nomination_tcm5-27595.pdf
  16. ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  17. ↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  18. ↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  19. ↑ "Bedfordshire South West". politicsresources.net.
  20. ↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  21. ↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010.
  22. ↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  23. ↑ "UK General Election results: June 1987 [Archive]". politicsresources.net.
  24. ↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  25. ↑ "UK General Election results: June 1983 [Archive]". politicsresources.net.
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