North East Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)

Summary

North East Somerset is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, since it was created for the 2010 general election, by Jacob Rees-Mogg of the Conservative Party.[n 2]

North East Somerset
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Location of North East Somerset in Somerset
Outline map
Location of Somerset within England
CountySomerset
Electorate70,070 (2018)[1]
Major settlementsChew Magna, Keynsham, Midsomer Norton and Radstock
Current constituency
Created2010
Member of ParliamentJacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative)
SeatsOne
Created fromWansdyke (19 wards)
Bath constituency (two wards)

For the next general election, the seat will be subject to major boundary changes and will be renamed North East Somerset and Hanham (see below).[2]

Boundaries edit

The constituency covers the part of Bath and North East Somerset District that is not in the Bath constituency and as such contains 18 electoral wards wholly in the constituency and two parishes in Newbridge ward of the Bath and North East Somerset:

Origin of first boundaries

Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which transferred all the electoral wards in Wandsyke constituency save for its four wards in South Gloucestershire to this new seat.[n 3] To compensate the new seat gained the whole of the large wards in the valley of the City, Bathavon North, and the rest of Bathavon South, both from the Bath constituency.

Proposed boundary changes edit

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be subject to major boundary changes, with south-eastern areas, including the communities of Midsomer Norton, Radstock and Peasedown St John, being incorporated into the newly created constituency of Frome and East Somerset, and the Bathavon North ward transferred to Bath. To compensate, the boundaries will be extended northwards into the District of South Gloucestershire, adding the wards of Bitton and Oldland Common, Hanham, Longwell Green, and Parkwall and Warmley. As a consequence, the constituency will be renamed North East Somerset and Hanham, to be first contested at the next general election.[2]

Constituency profile edit

 
Map of current boundaries

This area is marked by significant agriculture and green belts around almost all of its settlements, which consist largely of detached and semi-detached properties,[4] with a low rate of unemployment[5] and negligible social housing tenancy.[6]

An unusually shaped seat that takes in all the western part of the Bath and North East Somerset council area, and the rural outskirts of Bath in the east, meaning the Bath constituency is entirely surrounded by a thin belt of North East Somerset. The seat contains some contrasting areas. The northern parts of the seat, especially the town of Keynsham, are commuter areas for Bath and Bristol.[7] To the west the seat is more rural, covering the patchwork of farmland and rural villages that make up the Chew Valley. The southern part around Midsomer Norton and Radstock is part of the old Somerset Coalfield. The last of the coal mines closed in the 1970s,[8] to be replaced by light industry, but the close knit industrial heritage of the area remains.[9]

North East Somerset is estimated to have voted to Leave the European Union by 51.6% in the 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the EU.[10][11][12]

Members of Parliament edit

Election Member Party
2010 Jacob Rees-Mogg Conservative

Elections edit

Elections in the 2010s edit

 
Candidates at the North East Somerset 2019 general election declaration
General election 2019: North East Somerset[13][14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg 28,360 50.4 −3.2
Labour Mark Huband 13,631 24.2 −10.5
Liberal Democrats Nick Coates 12,422 22.1 +13.8
Green Fay Whitfield 1,423 2.5 +0.2
Independent Shaun Hughes 472 0.8 −0.3
Majority 14,729 26.2 +7.3
Turnout 56,308 76.4 +0.7
Conservative hold Swing +3.6
General election 2017: North East Somerset[15][16][17][18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg 28,992 53.6 +3.8
Labour Robin Moss 18,757 34.7 +9.9
Liberal Democrats Manda Rigby 4,461 8.3 +0.4
Green Sally Calverley 1,245 2.3 −3.2
Independent Shaun Hughes 588 1.1 New
Majority 10,235 18.9 −5.9
Turnout 54,043 75.7 +2.0
Conservative hold Swing −3.0
General election 2015: North East Somerset[19][20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg 25,439 49.8 +8.5
Labour Todd Foreman 12,690 24.8 −6.9
UKIP Ernest Blaber 6,150 12.0 +8.6
Liberal Democrats Wera Hobhouse 4,029 7.9 −14.4
Green Katy Boyce[21] 2,802 5.5 +4.2
Majority 12,749 25.0 +15.4
Turnout 51,110 73.7 -2.3
Conservative hold Swing +7.65
General election 2010: North East Somerset[22][23][24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg 21,130 41.3 +2.2
Labour Dan Norris* 16,216 31.7 −7.0
Liberal Democrats Gail Coleshill 11,433 22.3 +2.7
UKIP Peter Sandell 1,754 3.4 +1.2
Green Michael Jay 670 1.3 +1.3
Majority 4,914 9.6 +9.2
Turnout 51,203 76.0
Conservative win (new seat)

* Served in the 2005–2010 Parliament as MP for Wansdyke

The changes in vote share are compared to a notional calculation of the 2005 result. Although the Wansdkye seat had been held by Labour for 13 years, this seat was already notionally a Conservative seat by a margin of 0.4%. This means that, if the seat in current boundaries had been contested in 2005, the Conservatives would have won by a few hundred votes.

See also edit

Notes edit

  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.
  3. ^ Namely Bitton, Hanham, Longwell Green and Oldland Common

References edit

  1. ^ "England Parliamentary electorates 2010-2018". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – South West | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  3. ^ 2010 post-revision map non-metropolitan areas and unitary authorities of England Archived 3 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine Gov.UK
  4. ^ "2011 census interactive maps". Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
  5. ^ Unemployment statistics by constituency The Guardian
  6. ^ Sillitoe, Neighbourhood Statistics - Neil (14 April 2008). "Detect browser settings".
  7. ^ "Saltford & Keynsham Area Information". Eveleighs. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Recreation at Haydon". Archived from the original on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  9. ^ Boyd, Lorna (2013). Radstock and Midsomer Norton Through Time. Amberley. ISBN 9781445615271.
  10. ^ "Final estimates of the Leave vote share in the EU referendum". C. Hanretty (Google Docs). Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  11. ^ "How did different constituencies vote in the 2016 EU referendum?". Full Fact. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  12. ^ Hanretty, Chris (25 April 2017). "Final estimates of the Leave vote, or "Areal interpolation and the UK's referendum on EU membership"". Medium. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  13. ^ Godfrey, Will (14 November 2019). "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Bath and North East Somerset Council. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Somerset North East parliamentary constituency - Election 2019 - BBC News" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  15. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Bath and North East Somerset Returning Officer. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  16. ^ "Bath and NE Somerset Green Party - BaNES Greens: all female line up for election challenge". bath.greenparty.org.uk.
  17. ^ "Manda Rigby for North East Somerset".
  18. ^ "Somerset North East". BBC. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  19. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  20. ^ "Somerset North East". BBC. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  21. ^ "Katy Boyce". WhoCanIVoteFor?. Archived from the original on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  22. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  23. ^ "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Somerset North East". BBC News.
  24. ^ "Somerset North East". Guardian. Retrieved 5 October 2012.

Sources edit

  • UKPolling Report – Anthony Wells calculations of notional majorities.

51°20′N 2°30′W / 51.333°N 2.500°W / 51.333; -2.500