North Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)
North Bedfordshire was a county constituency in Bedfordshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.
North Bedfordshire | |
---|---|
Former County constituency for the House of Commons | |
Boundary of North Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire for the 1992 general election | |
Location of Bedfordshire within England | |
County | Bedfordshire |
Major settlements | Bedford |
1983–1997 | |
Number of members | One |
Replaced by | Bedford, Bedfordshire North East |
Created from | Bedford |
The constituency was created for the 1983 general election, and abolished for the 1997 general election.
History
This safe Conservative seat was held for its entire existence by Trevor Skeet who had been the MP for Bedford since 1970.
Boundaries
The Borough of North Bedfordshire wards of Brickhill, Bromham, Carlton, Castle, Cauldwell, Clapham, De Parys, Felmersham, Goldington, Harpur, Harrold, Kingsbrook, Newnham, Oakley, Putnoe, Queens Park, Renhold, Riseley, Roxton, and Sharnbrook.
The territory the seat covered was virtually the same as the county constituency of Bedford which it replaced. This included the town of Bedford itself. In 1997, the constituency was abolished, being dispersed on a roughly seven to three ratio between the new constituencies of Bedford and Bedfordshire North East, with 17 electors being transferred to Huntingdon.[1]
Members of Parliament
Election | Member[2] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Trevor Skeet | Conservative | |
1997 | constituency abolished | ||
Elections
Elections in the 1980s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Trevor Skeet | 27,969 | 52.03 | ||
Liberal | BK Gibbons | 14,120 | 26.27 | ||
Labour | P Healy | 11,323 | 21.06 | ||
Independent | NJ Hughes | 344 | 0.64 | ||
Majority | 13,849 | 25.76 | |||
Turnout | 53,756 | 75.19 | |||
Conservative win (new seat) |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Trevor Skeet | 29,845 | 52.58 | ||
Liberal | Janice Lennon | 13,340 | 23.50 | ||
Labour | Carl Henderson | 13,140 | 23.15 | ||
OOBPC | Crispin Slee | 435 | 0.77 | New | |
Majority | 16,505 | 29.08 | |||
Turnout | 56,760 | 77.19 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Election in the 1990s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Trevor Skeet | 29,970 | 50.7 | −1.9 | |
Labour | Patrick Hall | 18,302 | 31.0 | +7.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Mike Smithson | 10,014 | 16.9 | −6.6 | |
Green | Louise Smith | 643 | 1.1 | New | |
Natural Law | Bernard H. Bence | 178 | 0.3 | New | |
Majority | 11,668 | 19.7 | −9.4 | ||
Turnout | 59,107 | 80.1 | +2.9 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | −4.8 |
Notes and references
- "Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies", BBC/ITN/PA News/Sky, 1995, p. 191.
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 2)
- "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.