Westmorland and Lonsdale (UK Parliament constituency)

Westmorland and Lonsdale is a constituency[n 1] in the south of Cumbria, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Tim Farron, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats (2015–2017).

Westmorland and Lonsdale
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Westmorland and Lonsdale in Cumbria
Location of Cumbria within England
CountyCumbria
Electorate66,609 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlementsGrange-over-Sands, Kendal, Windermere
Current constituency
Created1983
Member of ParliamentTim Farron (Liberal Democrats)
Number of membersOne
Created fromMorecambe and Lonsdale and Westmorland

Since 2017, Westmorland and Lonsdale has been the only Liberal Democrat seat in the whole of Northern England.

Boundaries

The constituency is similar in extent to the South Lakeland district of Cumbria. Important towns by size in the constituency include Kendal, Windermere and Kirkby Lonsdale. It is named for the historic county of Westmorland and the Lancashire Hundred of Lonsdale, both of which extend beyond the bounds of the constituency.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Cumbria, the Boundary Commission for England created a modified Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency, to deal with population changes.

The electoral wards used to create the modified seat, contested for the first time at the 2010 general election, are entirely within the South Lakeland district.

This removed Broughton-in-Furness from the constituency.

History

Having been a Conservative-dominated seat since its creation in 1983, the 1997 general election saw the Conservatives' majority cut to fewer than 5,000 votes. This was further reduced at the 2001 general election. In 2005, the constituency featured among a list of seats held by high-profile Conservatives (in this case, Shadow Education minister Tim Collins) targeted by the Liberal Democrats by deploying supporters from across each region in what was referred in the media as a "decapitation strategy".[3] Westmorland and Lonsdale was the single shadow ministerial loss at the following election — Tim Farron gained the seat by a marginal majority of 267 votes.

At the 2010 general election, the local electorate caused the largest Conservative-to-Lib Dem swing nationally, of 11.1% — equally the lowest share of the vote for Labour (2.2%, one of five lost deposits for Labour), nationally. With 96.2% of votes cast for either the Conservative or Liberal Democrat candidates, Westmorland and Lonsdale had the highest combined share of the vote cast for the Coalition parties.

Contrasting with its long-term Conservative support, the combined Conservative/UKIP vote narrowly failed to reach 40% in 2015. Equally, Farron, who would become Leader of the Liberal Democrats two months later; was the only member of his party to secure an absolute majority (over 50%) of votes cast, after what was a poor result for the party nationwide with their seat count reduced from 57 seats to 8.[4][5] In 2017 (when Farron was Lib Dem leader), Farron's majority fell to just 777 votes. However in 2019, he was re-elected with a majority increased to 1,934.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[6] Party
1983Michael Jopling Conservative
1997Tim Collins Conservative
2005Tim Farron Liberal Democrats

Elections
Westmorland election results

Elections in the 2010s

In 2019, Westmorland and Lonsdale was one of five English constituencies, the others being Esher and Walton, East Devon, Cheltenham and Winchester, where Labour failed to obtain over 5% of the vote and lost their deposit.[7]

General election 2019: Westmorland and Lonsdale[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Tim Farron 25,795 48.9 +3.1
Conservative James Airey 23,861 45.3 +1.0
Labour Phillip Black 2,293 4.4 -4.9
Brexit Party Steven Bolton 763 1.5 New
Majority 1,934 3.6 +2.1
Turnout 52,712 77.8 -0.1
Liberal Democrats hold Swing +1.1
General election 2017: Westmorland and Lonsdale[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Tim Farron 23,686 45.8 −5.7
Conservative James Airey 22,909 44.3 +11.1
Labour Eli Aldridge 4,783 9.3 +3.9
Independent Mr Fishfinger 309 0.6 New
Majority 777 1.5 −16.8
Turnout 51,687 77.9 +3.6
Liberal Democrats hold Swing −8.4
General election 2015: Westmorland and Lonsdale[11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Tim Farron 25,194 51.5 −8.5
Conservative Ann Myatt 16,245 33.2 −3.0
UKIP Alan Piper 3,031 6.2 +4.6
Labour John Bateson 2,661 5.4 +3.2
Green Chris Loynes 1,798 3.7 New
Majority 8,949 18.3 -5.5
Turnout 48,929 74.3 −1.5
Liberal Democrats hold Swing −2.8
General election 2010: Westmorland and Lonsdale[13][14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Tim Farron 30,896 60.0 +14.1
Conservative Gareth McKeever 18,632 36.2 -8.7
Labour Jonathan Todd 1,158 2.2 −5.6
UKIP John Mander 801 1.6 +0.2
Majority 12,264 23.8 +23.3
Turnout 51,487 75.8 +5.1
Liberal Democrats hold Swing +11.1

Elections in the 2000s
General election 2005: Westmorland and Lonsdale[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Tim Farron 22,569 45.5 +5.1
Conservative Tim Collins 22,302 44.9 −2.0
Labour John Reardon 3,796 7.6 −3.3
UKIP Robert Gibson 660 1.3 +0.1
Independent Anthony Kemp 309 0.6 New
Majority 267 0.6 N/A
Turnout 49,636 71.6 +3.8
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing +3.5
General election 2001: Westmorland and Lonsdale[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tim Collins 22,486 46.9 +4.6
Liberal Democrats Tim Farron 19,339 40.4 +7.0
Labour John Bateson 5,234 10.9 −9.7
UKIP Robert Gibson 552 1.2 New
Independent Timothy Bell 292 0.6 New
Majority 3,147 6.5 -2.5
Turnout 47,903 67.8 −6.3
Conservative hold Swing −1.2

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1997: Westmorland and Lonsdale[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tim Collins 21,463 42.3 −14.6
Liberal Democrats Stanley Collins 16,942 33.4 +5.9
Labour John Harding 10,452 20.6 +5.5
Referendum Michael H. Smith 1,924 3.8 New
Majority 4,521 9.0 -20.4
Turnout 50,781 74.1 -3.7
Conservative hold Swing −10.3
General election 1992: Westmorland and Lonsdale[18][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Jopling 31,798 56.9 −0.7
Liberal Democrats Stanley Collins 15,362 27.5 −1.7
Labour Dickon J. Abbott 8,436 15.1 +1.9
Natural Law Robert Johnstone 287 0.5 New
Majority 16,436 29.4 +1.0
Turnout 55,883 77.8 −3.0
Conservative hold Swing +0.5

Elections in the 1980s
General election 1987: Westmorland and Lonsdale[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Jopling 30,259 57.6 −3.7
Liberal Stanley Collins 15,339 29.2 +2.1
Labour Shaun Halfpenny 6,968 13.2 +3.3
Majority 14,920 28.4 -5.8
Turnout 52,566 74.8 +2.5
Conservative hold Swing −2.9
General election 1983: Westmorland and Lonsdale[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Jopling 29,775 61.3
Liberal Ken Hulls 13,188 27.1
Labour Chris Stott 4,798 9.9
Ecology Robert Gibson 805 1.7
Majority 16,587 34.2
Turnout 48,566 72.3
Conservative win (new seat)

Note: The Robert Gibson who stood in this election and the similarly named candidate in 2001 and 2005 are not the same person.

See also

Notes and references
Notes
  1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer).
References
  1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. "2010 post-revision map non-metropolitan areas and unitary authorities of England" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  3. Lyon, Sam (6 May 2005). "Senior Tories Avoid LibDem "decaptitation"". Evening Standard.
  4. Gosden, Emily (2015-05-09). "Liberal Democrat survivors round on Nick Clegg". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  5. Harris, John (12 July 2015). "The strange death of the Liberal Democrats". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  6. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 3)
  7. "Lord Buckethead among candidates to lose deposit". December 13, 2019 – via www.bbc.com.
  8. "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll" (PDF). southlakeland.gov.uk. South Lakeland Council. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  9. "Westmorland & Lonsdale parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  10. "UK Parliamentary election: Westmorland & Lonsdale constituency - Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll" (PDF). South Lakeland District Council. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  11. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. "Westmorland & Lonsdale". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  13. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  14. Westmorland and Lonsdale Conservatives, Westmorland and Lonsdale Conservatives
  15. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  16. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  17. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  18. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  19. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  20. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  21. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
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