Bridgwater and West Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)
Bridgwater and West Somerset | |
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County constituency for the House of Commons |
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![]() Boundary of Bridgwater and West Somerset in Somerset.
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![]() Location of Somerset within England.
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County | Somerset |
Population | 106,450 (2011 census)[1] |
Electorate | 82,936 (December 2010)[2] |
Major settlements | Bridgwater |
Current constituency | |
Created | 2010 |
Member of parliament | Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative) |
Number of members | One |
Created from | Bridgwater |
Overlaps | |
European Parliament constituency | South West England |
Bridgwater and West Somerset is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since creation in 2010 by Ian Liddell-Grainger of the Conservative Party.[n 2]
Contents
History
Bridgwater was one of the original parliamentary borough constituencies in England[n 3] (with fifteen years of non-existence in the late 19th century after the seat was abolished for corruption in 1870 and being subsumed into a slightly larger seat on a review of Somerset's representation by the Boundary Commission[3] in 1885).
In 2010 seven candidates stood. The second placed candidate was a Liberal Democrat, Theo Butt Philip, 11.2% ahead of the candidate from the Labour Party. The incumbent, Ian Liddell-Grainger is a former Major in the Territorial Army, farmer and defence advisor.
Boundaries
The electoral wards in the seat are:
- The entire district of West Somerset, part of which had been in the old Taunton constituency
- Bridgwater Bower, Bridgwater Eastover, Bridgwater Hamp, Bridgwater Quantock, Bridgwater Sydenham, Bridgwater Victoria, Cannington and Quantocks, East Poldens, Huntspill and Pawlett, King’s Isle, North Petherton, Puriton, Sandford, West Poldens and Woolavington from the district of Sedgemoor
The area includes Minehead which was a borough constituency until its abolition as a 'rotten borough' under the Great Reform Act, 1832.
Members of Parliament
Election | Member[4] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Ian Liddell-Grainger | Conservative |
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Ian Liddell-Grainger | 25,020 | 46.0 | +0.7 | |
UKIP | Stephen Fitzgerald | 10,437 | 19.2 | +14.4 | |
Labour | Michael Lerry | 9,589 | 17.6 | +0.5 | |
Liberal Democrat | Theo Butt Philip[7] | 6,765 | 12.4 | -15.9 | |
Green | Julie Harvey-Smith | 2,636 | 4.8 | +3.3 | |
Majority | 14,583 | 26.8 | +9.8 | ||
Turnout | 54,447 | 67.6 | -3.6 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
The Liberal Democrats initially selected Justine Baker as their candidate.[8] After being accepted for Bridgwater and West Somerset, Baker resigned in order to apply to stand as the candidate for Taunton Deane, a more winnable seat, she was not successful[9] and ultimately was not a candidate anywhere in the 2015 General Election. She was replaced by Theo Butt Philip, who had been the Liberal Democrat candidate at the 2010 General Election.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Ian Liddell-Grainger* | 24,675 | 45.3 | -0.1 | |
Liberal Democrat | Theo Butt Philip | 15,426 | 28.3 | +5.7 | |
Labour | Kathy Pearce | 9,332 | 17.1 | -8.5 | |
UKIP | Peter Hollings | 2,604 | 4.8 | +1.1 | |
BNP | Donna Treanor | 1,282 | 2.4 | +2.4 | |
Green | Charles Graham | 859 | 1.6 | -1.2 | |
Independent | Bob Cudlipp | 315 | 0.6 | +0.6 | |
Majority | 9,249 | 17.0 | |||
Turnout | 54,493 | 71.2 | +7.2 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | -2.9 |
- * Served as the MP for Bridgwater 2001–2010
See also
Notes and references
- Notes
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External links
- nomis Constituency Profile for Bridgwater and West Somerset — presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.
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- ↑ http://www.libdems.org.uk/general_election_candidates#South West
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