Wealden (UK Parliament constituency)

Wealden
County constituency for the House of Commons
120px Boundary of Wealden in East Sussex.
Location of East Sussex within England.
County	East Sussex
Electorate	77,536 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of parliament	Nus Ghani (Conservative)
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South East England

Wealden is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Nus Ghani, a Conservative.

History

This seat was created in the third periodic review of constituencies in 1983, from a mixture of the previous Mid and Northern divisions of the county (also known as Lewes and East Grinstead).

Political history

The seat's history is that of a safe Conservative seat. The Liberal Democrats including their two predecessor parties have so far always presented the main opposition candidate. The best result for the Labour Party was in 2001, however was 29.5% below the share of the vote taken by the winner. Closest in percentage majority was the election of 1997 with a majority of 24% of the vote, still more than a marginal gap separated the two main local parties.

Prominent frontbenchers

Locally born Charles Hendry served as a Minister of State in the Department of Energy and Climate Change from 2010-2012 following two years in the shadow role in opposition.

Boundaries

Approximately half of the population in the constituency lives in the area’s three main towns: Crowborough, Hailsham and Uckfield. The rest of the seat is predominantly rural and has many small towns, villages and hamlets. The Wealden landscape is varied, ranging from the Ashdown Forest in the north to the South Downs and the coastal part is included in seats to the south.

The constituency covers much of the Wealden district of East Sussex. However, some of the district in the south falls into the constituencies of Lewes, Bexhill and Battle and Eastbourne.

History of boundaries

Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which slightly altered this constituency for the 2010 general election since which it has electoral wards:

• Buxted and Maresfield; Chiddingly and East Hoathly; Crowborough: East, Jarvis Brook, North, St Johns and, West wards; Danehill/Fletching/Nutley; Forest Row; Framfield; Frant/Withyham; Hailsham: Central and North, East, and South and West wards; Hartfield; Hellingly; Horam; Mayfield; Rotherfield; Uckfield: Central, New Town, North and Ridgewood wards; and Wadhurst in the Wealden District.

Constituency profile

A considerable portion of the population is retired or work in London, Brighton or other regional employment bases at a managerial or advanced professional level. Workless claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 1.5% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1983	Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith	Conservative
	2001	Charles Hendry	Conservative
	2015	Nus Ghani	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Wealden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nusrat Ghani	32,508	57.0	+0.5
	UKIP	Peter Griffiths	9,541	16.7	+10.7
	Labour	Solomon Curtis	6,165	10.8	+1.2
	Liberal Democrat	Giles Goodall	5,180	9.1	-16.5
	Green	Mark Smith	3,623	6.4	+3.8
Majority			22,967	40.3
Turnout			57,017	71.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	-5.8

General Election 2010: Wealden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Hendry	31,090	56.6	+6.1
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Bowers	13,911	25.3	+0.6
	Labour	Lorna Blackmore	5,266	9.6	-7.1
	UKIP	Dan Docker	3,319	6.0	+2.2
	Green	David Jonas	1,383	2.5	-1.8
Majority			17,179	31.3
Turnout			54,969	71.8	+5.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.8%

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Wealden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Hendry	28,975	52.1	+2.3
	Liberal Democrat	Christopher Wigley	13,054	23.5	-0.2
	Labour	Dudley Rose	9,360	16.8	-3.5
	Green	Julian Salmon	2,150	3.9	+1.5
	UKIP	Keith Riddle	2,114	3.8	+0.9
Majority			15,921	28.6
Turnout			55,653	67.7	4.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.3

General Election 2001: Wealden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Hendry	26,279	49.8	+0.0
	Liberal Democrat	Steve Murphy	12,507	23.7	−2.0
	Labour	Kathy Fordham	10,705	20.3	+3.1
	UKIP	Keith Riddle	1,538	2.9	+2.0
	Green	Julian Salmon	1,273	2.4	N/A
	Pensioner Coalition	Cyril Thornton	453	0.9	N/A
Majority			13,772	26.1
Turnout			52,756	63.5	10.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Wealden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Johnson Smith	29,417	49.8	−12.0
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Skinner	15,213	25.7	−1.3
	Labour	Nicholas Levine	10,185	17.2	+8.0
	Referendum	Barry Taplin	3,527	6.0	N/A
	UKIP	M.J. English	569	0.9	N/A
	Natural Law	Paul Cragg	188	0.3	+0.0
Majority			14,204	24.0
Turnout			59,099	73.7
	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: Wealden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Johnson Smith	37,263	61.7	−2.5
	Liberal Democrat	Michael Skinner	16,332	27.1	−0.4
	Labour	Steve Billcliffe	5,579	9.2	+0.9
	Green	Ian Guy-Moore	1,002	1.7	N/A
	Natural Law	R F Graham	182	0.3	N/A
Majority			20,931	34.6	−2.1
Turnout			60,358	81.0	+6.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.1

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Wealden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Johnson Smith	35,154	64.2	0.0
	Social Democratic	David Anthony Sinclair	15,044	27.5	−2.1
	Labour	Charles Edward Ward	4,563	8.3	+2.1
Majority			20,110	36.7
Turnout			54,761	75.0	+3.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Wealden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Johnson Smith	31,926	64.2	N/A
	Social Democratic	D.E. Pace	14,741	29.6	N/A
	Labour	Patricia Knight	3,060	6.2	N/A
Majority			17,185	34.6	N/A
Turnout			49,727	71.8	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in East Sussex

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

• Election result, 2010 (BBC)
• Election result, 2005 (BBC)
• Election results, 1997 - 2001 (BBC)
• Election results, 1997 - 2001 (Election Demon)
• Election results, 1983 - 1992 (Election Demon)
• Election results, 1992 - 2005 (Guardian)