South West Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

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South West Bedfordshire
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of South West Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire.
120px
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[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2001 by Andrew Selous, a Conservative.[n 2]

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.

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).

Constituency profile

Workless claimants were in November 2012 lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 3.2% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[2]

Members of Parliament

Election Member[3] Party
1983 Sir David Madel Conservative
2001 Andrew Selous Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: South West Bedfordshire[4][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Selous [6] 28,212 55.0 +2.2
Labour Daniel Scott [6] 10,399 20.3 +0.7
UKIP John van Weenen [7] 7,941 15.5 +11.3
Liberal Democrat Stephen Rutherford [8] 2,646 5.2 −14.9
Green Emily Lawrence [9] 2,106 4.1 +2.2
Majority 17,813 34.7
Turnout 51,304 64.4
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 2010: South West Bedfordshire[10][11]
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
Turnout 50,774 66.3 +3.5
Conservative hold Swing +0.7

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: South West Bedfordshire[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Selous 22,114 48.3 +6.2
Labour Joyce Still 13,837 30.2 −10.2
Liberal Democrat Andy 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
Turnout 61.8
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 2001: South West Bedfordshire[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Selous 18,477 42.1 +1.4
Labour Andrew Richard Date 17,701 40.4 −0.1
Liberal Democrat Martin James Pantling 6,473 14.8 +0.5
UKIP Tom Wise 1,203 2.7 +1.9
Majority 776 1.7
Turnout 43,854 62.1 −13.7
Conservative hold Swing +0.7

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: South West Bedfordshire[14][15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Madel 21,534 40.7 −15.5
Labour Andrew Richard Date 21,402 40.5 +14.7
Liberal Democrat Stephen H.M. Owen 7,559 14.3 −2.3
Referendum Mrs. 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
Turnout 52,864 75.8
Conservative hold Swing −16.1
General Election 1992: Bedfordshire South West[16][17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Madel 37,498 57.1 −1.0
Labour Barry E. Elliott 16,225 24.7 +6.5
Liberal Democrat Mark Freeman 10,988 16.7 −5.5
Green Peter John Rollings 689 1.0 −0.3
Natural Law Dobie 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[18][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Madel 36,140 58.2 +3.2
Social Democratic John Richard Burrow 13,835 22.3 −5.5
Labour Paul Howard Dimoldenberg 11,352 18.3 +1.1
Green Peter John Rollings 822 1.3 N/A
Majority 22,305 35.9
Turnout 62,149 78.7
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1983: South West Bedfordshire[20][21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Madel 31,767 55.0 N/A
Social Democratic R. Byfield 16,036 27.8 N/A
Labour W. 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. ↑ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. ↑ 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
  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
  3. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 2)[self-published source][better source needed]
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  11. ↑ http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/images/South%20Beds%20Statement%20of%20Nomination_tcm5-27595.pdf
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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