North Swindon (UK Parliament constituency)

North Swindon is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Justin Tomlinson, a Conservative.[n 2]

North Swindon
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of North Swindon in Wiltshire
Location of Wiltshire within England
CountyWiltshire
Electorate79,488 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created1997
Member of ParliamentJustin Tomlinson (Conservative)
Number of membersOne
Created fromSwindon

History

North Swindon was created in 1997 and has been a bellwether since then. However, during the 2010s, the Conservatives did win the constituency by much higher numbers than their national popular vote margin.

Boundaries

1997–2010: The Borough of Thamesdown wards of Blunsdon, Covingham, Gorse Hill, Haydon Wick, Highworth, Moredon, St Margaret, St Philip, Western, and Whitworth, and the District of North Wiltshire ward of Cricklade.

2010–present: The Borough of Swindon wards of Abbey Meads, Blunsdon, Covingham and Nythe, Gorse Hill and Pinehurst, Haydon Wick, Highworth, Moredon, Penhill, St Margaret, St Philip, and Western.

The seat's boundaries encompass an area that before its creation made up parts of the former Swindon constituency and pre-1997 versions of North Wiltshire and Devizes. In the 2010 boundary changes Cricklade became part of the North Wiltshire constituency while this seat acquired parts of the South Swindon constituency.

Constituency profile

The constituency covers much of urban and suburban Swindon, but also incorporates a substantial portion of the surrounding area, including Blunsdon and the market town of Highworth. North Swindon has an electorate of 79,488, the majority of whom live in the suburbs or close to Swindon's town centre. In 2001 52.9% of homes were into the categories of semi-detached or detached in the Swindon Local Authority area and seeing a 5.0% increase in flats/apartments in 2011 this figure had fallen slightly to 50.3%. In North Wiltshire a higher proportion of homes are detached (35.1%). In the same period those registered unemployed rose from 2.5% to 4.2% and those self-employed rose from 6.2% to 7.8%.[2] In 2010 the unemployment rate for Swindon South was 2.6%, compared to 3.5% in Swindon North. This is one indicator of social deprivation and compares a rate of 11.0% in Birmingham Ladywood, the constituency with the highest rate nationally.[3]

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[4] Party
1997 Michael Wills Labour
2010 Justin Tomlinson Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: North Swindon[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Justin Tomlinson 32,584 59.1 5.5
Labour Kate Linnegar 16,413 29.8 8.6
Liberal Democrats Katie Critchlow 4,408 8.0 4.4
Green Andy Bentley 1,710 3.1 1.5
Majority 16,171 29.3 14.1
Turnout 55,115 66.9 1.6
Conservative hold Swing 7.1
General election 2017: North Swindon[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Justin Tomlinson 29,431 53.6 3.3
Labour Mark Dempsey 21,096 38.4 10.6
Liberal Democrats Liz Webster 1,962 3.6 0.3
UKIP Steve Halden 1,564 2.8 12.5
Green Andy Bentley 858 1.6 1.7
Majority 8,335 15.2 7.4
Turnout 54,911 68.5 4.0
Conservative hold Swing 3.65
General election 2015: North Swindon[7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Justin Tomlinson 26,295 50.3 5.8
Labour Mark Dempsey [9] 14,509 27.8 2.7
UKIP James Faulkner[10] 8,011 15.3 11.7
Green Poppy Hebden-Leeder 1,723 3.3 2.3
Liberal Democrats Janet Ellard[11] 1,704 3.3 14.0
Majority 11,786 22.6 8.6
Turnout 64.5 0.3
Conservative hold Swing 4.3
General election 2010: North Swindon[12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Justin Tomlinson 22,408 44.6 5.7
Labour Victor Agarwal 15,348 30.5 14.6
Liberal Democrats Jane Lock 8,668 17.2 4.4
UKIP Stephen Halden 1,842 3.7 1.4
BNP Reg Bates 1,542 3.1 3.1
Green Bill Hughes 487 1.0 1.0
Majority 7,060 14.0 8.3
Turnout 50,295 64.2 3.4
Conservative gain from Labour Swing 10.1

Elections in the 2000s
General election 2005: North Swindon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Michael Wills 19,612 43.7 9.2
Conservative Justin Tomlinson 17,041 38.0 4.3
Liberal Democrats Mike Evemy 6,831 15.2 3.6
UKIP Robert Tingey 998 2.2 0.3
Socialist Unity Andy Newman 208 0.5
Independent Ernest Reynolds 195 0.4
Majority 2,571 5.7 N/A
Turnout 44,885 61.0
Labour hold Swing 6.7
General election 2001: North Swindon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Michael Wills 22,371 52.9 3.1
Conservative Nick Martin 14,266 33.7 0.1
Liberal Democrats David Nation 4,891 11.6 1.4
UKIP Brian Lloyd 800 1.9
Majority 8,105 19.2 N/A
Turnout 42,328 61.0 12.6
Labour hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1997: North Swindon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Michael Wills 24,029 49.8 N/A
Conservative Guy Opperman 16,341 33.8 N/A
Liberal Democrats Mike Evemy 6,237 12.9 N/A
Referendum Gillian Goldsmith 1,533 3.2 N/A
Natural Law Alexander Fisken 130 0.3 N/A
Majority 7,688 16.0 N/A
Turnout 73.66 N/A
Labour win (new seat)

Neighbouring constituencies

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. "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.
  2. "2011 census interactive maps". Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
  3. "Unemployment claimants by constituency", The Guardian, 17 November 2010
  4. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
  5. Council, Swindon Borough. "Statement of Persons Nominated, Notice of Poll and Situation of Polling Stations North Swindon | Swindon Borough Council". www.swindon.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  6. "ELECTION 2017: Labour choose North Swindon candidate". Swindon Advertiser.
  7. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  8. "Swindon North parliamentary constituency - Election 2017". BBC News.
  9. http://www.northswindonlabour.co.uk/markdempsey/mark-dempsey-selected-ppc-for-north-swindon
  10. "Swindon UKIP Branch".
  11. http://www.libdems.org.uk/general_election_candidates#South_West
  12. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. "Election 2010 - Constituency - Swindon North". BBC News.
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