Bridgwater and West Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)

Bridgwater and West Somerset is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Ian Liddell-Grainger, a Conservative.[n 2]

Bridgwater and West Somerset
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Bridgwater and West Somerset in Somerset
Location of Somerset within England
CountySomerset
Population106,450 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate82,936 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlementsBridgwater
Current constituency
Created2010
Member of ParliamentIan Liddell-Grainger (Conservative)
Number of membersOne
Created fromBridgwater, Taunton

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.

In the snap election of 2017 Liddell-Grainger increased his majority to 15,000, the largest in the constituency's history, and Labour finished second in the seat for the first time.

Boundaries

The District of Sedgemoor wards of 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, and the District of West Somerset.

Members of Parliament

See also: Bridgwater constituency

ElectionMember[4] Party
2010 Ian Liddell-Grainger Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: Bridgwater and West Somerset[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ian Liddell-Grainger 35,827 62.1 7.0
Labour Oliver Thornton 11,388 19.8 8.8
Liberal Democrats Bill Revans 7,805 13.5 2.7
Green Mickie Ritchie 1,877 3.3 1.4
Liberal Fares Moussa 755 1.3 N/A
Majority 24,439 42.3 15.8
Turnout 57,652 67.9 2.3
Conservative hold Swing
General election 2017: Bridgwater and West Somerset[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ian Liddell-Grainger 32,111 55.1 9.2
Labour Wes Hinckes 16,663 28.6 11.0
Liberal Democrats Marcus Kravis 6,332 10.9 1.6
UKIP Simon Smedley 2,102 3.6 15.6
Green Kay Powell 1,059 1.8 3.0
Majority 15,448 26.5 0.3
Turnout 58,267 65.3 2.3
Conservative hold Swing
General election 2015: Bridgwater and West Somerset[7][8]
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 Democrats Theo Butt Philip 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.[9] 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,[10] and ultimately was not a candidate anywhere at the 2015 general election. She was replaced by Theo Butt Philip, who had been the Liberal Democrat candidate at the 2010 general election.

General election 2010: Bridgwater and West Somerset[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ian Liddell-Grainger* 24,675 45.3 0.1
Liberal Democrats 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 N/A
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
  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. Original is usually classified as sending representatives to the Model Parliament of 1295.
References
  1. "Bridgwater and West Somerset: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 2 February 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. "New Parliamentary Constituencies for England SN/PC/04297" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 5 November 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  4. "Ian Liddell-Grainger". Parliament UK. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  5. "General Election 2019". www.sedgemoor.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  6. "Bridgwater & Somerset West". BBC. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  7. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  8. "Bridgwater & Somerset West - Election 2015". BBC News.
  9. "Justine Baker". Lib Dems. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  10. "Rejected! Bridgwater Lib Dem candidate is lame duck after she fails to get better seat". Somerset Labour. 7 December 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  11. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

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