Arundel and South Downs (UK Parliament constituency)

Arundel and South Downs (/ˈærʊndəl/) is a constituency[n 1] created in 1997, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Andrew Griffith of the Conservative Party.[n 2]

Arundel and South Downs
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Arundel and South Downs in West Sussex
Location of West Sussex within England
CountyWest Sussex
Population97,267 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate76,697 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlementsArundel, Hassocks, Petworth, Pulborough and Steyning
Current constituency
Created1997
Member of ParliamentAndrew Griffith (Conservative)
Number of membersOne
Created fromArundel and Horsham

Boundaries

The constituency contains the town of Arundel and villages and hamlets within the South Downs national park boundaries or encircled by the park, the largest of which are Hassocks, Hurstpierpoint, Petworth, Pulborough, Steyning and Storrington.

2010 – reviewed boundaries adopted

Following their review of parliamentary boundaries in West Sussex which Parliament approved in 2007, the Boundary Commission for England formed new constituencies. First contested in 2010 the seat was constituted as follows:

Wards of the United KingdomIn district/borough of:
Angmering, Arundel, Barnham, Findon, and WalbertonArun
Bury, Petworth, and Wisborough GreenChichester
Bramber, Upper Beeding and Woodmancote, Chanctonbury, Chantry, Cowfold,Partridge Green, Shermanbury and West Grinstead, Henfield, Pulborough and Coldwaltham, and SteyningHorsham
Hassocks, and Hurstpierpoint and Downs.Mid Sussex

In their recommendations, the Boundary Commission for England mooted the name Chanctonbury after uninhabited Chanctonbury Ring, an ancient hill fort at its centre. This name was rejected during the local inquiry process at which the current name was chosen.[3]

History

Results and EU referendum stance

The 2017 result saw the sixth Conservative win.

Second-place runners-up have been, listed in order, four times a Liberal Democrat, once the UKIP candidate and once the Labour candidate. In line with regional trends, the highest percentage of the vote among these was the Liberal Democrat in 2010, with 27.9% of the vote.

In June 2016, an estimated 50.3% of local adults voting in the EU membership referendum chose to remain in the European Union instead of to leave. This was defied in two January 2018 votes in Parliament by its MP, in line with his governing party's promise to adhere to the overall result of that referendum.[4]

The 2015-2017 status was as the 8th safest of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority.[5]

De-selection of incumbent seeking re-election in 2005

The incumbent Howard Flight MP had national media coverage in the run-up to the 2005 general election due to his deselection requested by the party leader for membership of Conservative Way Forward, lobbying for spending cuts to be more severe than set out in the small cuts in the 2005 manifesto. Flight hinted his preferred cuts would be as implemented by a Conservative government in his view. He had represented the constituency since its creation at the 1997 general election. Anne Marie Morris, Laura Sandys and Nick Herbert put themselves forward for nomination as replacement candidates. The chosen candidate, Nick Herbert, won the seat at the election.[6] Morris and Sandys became MPs elsewhere in 2010.

Predecessor seats

The seat and its predecessors have in the 20th century been a Conservative Party stronghold save that the minor contributory Horsham seat to the area's electorate saw victory by 8.6% of the vote over the Labour Party in 1966, followed statistically by a next-most-marginal victory again with the Labour Party as runner-up, in 1950, of 14.4%.

Between 1974 and 1983, much of the South Downs area was part of the Shoreham constituency, with the town of Arundel remaining in the Arundel constituency.

Prior to 1974, the seat was largely part of the Arundel and Shoreham constituency.

Members of Parliament
Parliament Years Member[7] Party
Constituency created from Arundel and Horsham
52nd 1997–2001 Howard Flight Conservative
53rd 2001–2005
54th 2005–2010 Nick Herbert
55th 2010–2015
56th 2015–2019
57th 2017–2019
58th 2019–present Andrew Griffith

Elections
Arundel and South Downs election results

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: Arundel and South Downs[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Griffith 35,566 57.9 -4.4
Liberal Democrats Alison Bennett 13,045 21.2 +13.3
Labour Bella Sankey 9,722 15.8 -6.9
Green Isabel Thurston 2,519 4.1 -0.1
Independent Robert Wheal 556 0.9 N/A
Majority 22,521 36.7 −2.9
Turnout 61,408 75.1 -0.7
Conservative hold Swing -8.9
General election 2017: Arundel and South Downs
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nick Herbert 37,573 62.4 +1.6
Labour Caroline Fife 13,690 22.7 +11.5
Liberal Democrats Shweta Kapadia 4,783 7.9 +0.7
Green Jo Prior 2,542 4.2 −2.2
UKIP John Wallace 1,668 2.8 −11.7
Majority 23,883 39.6 −6.7
Turnout 60,256 75.8 +2.7
Conservative hold Swing -4.95
General election 2015: Arundel and South Downs[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nick Herbert 34,331 60.8 +3.0
UKIP Peter Grace 8,154 14.4 +8.8
Labour Christopher Wellbelove 6,324 11.2 +2.6
Liberal Democrats Shweta Kapadia 4,062 7.2 −20.7
Green Isabel Thurston 3,606 6.4 +6.4
Majority 26,177 46.3 +16.4
Turnout 56,477 73.1 +0.9
Conservative hold Swing +2.9
General election 2010: Arundel and South Downs[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nick Herbert 32,333 57.8 +8.0
Liberal Democrats Derek Deedman 15,642 27.9 +0.8
Labour Tim Lunnon 4,835 8.6 −8.5
UKIP Stuart Bower 3,172 5.7 +0.3
Majority 16,691 29.9 +8.1
Turnout 55,982 72.2 +1.4
Conservative hold Swing +3.6

Elections in the 2000s
General election 2005: Arundel and South Downs[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Nick Herbert 24,752 49.8 −2.4
Liberal Democrats Derek Deedman 13,443 27.1 +4.7
Labour Sharon Whitlam 8,482 17.1 −3.6
UKIP Andrew Moffat 2,700 5.4 +0.7
Protest Vote Party Mark Stack 313 0.6 +0.6
Majority 11,309 22.8 -7.0
Turnout 49,690 68.5 3.8
Conservative hold Swing −3.5
General election 2001: Arundel and South Downs[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Howard Flight 23,969 52.2 −0.9
Liberal Democrats Derek R. Deedman 10,265 22.4 −3.4
Labour Charles S. Taylor 9,488 20.7 +2.4
UKIP Robert Perrin 2,167 4.7 +1.8
Majority 13,704 29.8 +2.4
Turnout 45,889 64.7 −10.8
Conservative hold Swing +1.25

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1997: Arundel and South Downs[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Howard Flight 27,251 53.1 N/A
Liberal Democrats John Goss 13,216 25.7 N/A
Labour Richard Black 9,376 18.3 N/A
UKIP James Herbert 1,494 2.9 N/A
Majority 14,035 27.4 N/A
Turnout 51,337 75.5 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. "Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  2. "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  3. Boundary Commission for England, fourth periodic report, 1995
  4. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/11377/nick_herbert/arundel_and_south_downs/divisions?policy=1065
  5. "List of Conservative MPs elected in 2015 by % majority". UK Political.info. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  6. "BBC NEWS - UK - Politics - Tory shortlist to replace Flight". newsrss.bbc.co.uk.
  7. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 3)
  8. <https://beta.horsham.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/76253/SPN-COMBINED-ASD-2019.pdf
  9. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  12. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  13. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Sources
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.